Strawberry Banana Smoothie

In my strive for a Healthy Lifestyle I have added smoothies as part of my daily lifestyle.  And although the Slime Time Live Smoothie was AMAZING!  You can't rest on your laurels!


Therefore, Greg and I decided to try a Strawberry-Banana Smoothie.


Now nothing is a better taste on your taste buds than a combination of Strawberry and Bananas.  I hope they serve this smoothie in heaven!


What you will need:
1 cup of low-fat plain yogurt (if you can't tell I use this A LOT)
2 1/2 cups of Fresh Strawberries (you can use frozen -- I just think fresh is better)
2 Bananas sliced
3/4 cups of fat free milk
1/4 cup of ice
1 tbs of honey (fresh)


Combine all ingredients into a blender.  Enjoy!

VERDICT:

Again, I was able to enjoy this smotthie 2 days in a row.  Very filling both times.  Will make again!

The Busy Girl gets ready for Bikini season

That is right, bikini season is right around the corner and with the Urban Farmer and I heading out on a cruise in 67 days this girls needs to get healthy... and fast.

I have started my mornings now with a Slime Smoothie that is high in vitamins and veggies.  Yummy!

I have also started running.  Today I started with a 2 mile run.  Tomorrow I start my Couch to 5K workouts.

If your like me, you need a plan to this work out.  There are many great Couch to 5K programs.  Here are a couple from a quick Google search:
Cool Running

From couch to 5K

Shrinking Jeans

While all these programs are GREAT!  They are just not me.

The importance of any exercise program is finding a workout that is you!

My entire life I HATED running.  Absolutely despised it.  I always tried to skip the day in gym class when we had to run the mile and specifically choose sports that did not involve running (aka dance, cheer leading and swimming).

Then after my "fat" year in college and moving to Virginia I began running.  Mostly because I wanted to loose wait but also because I just moved somewhere knew, had no friends and needed something to do.  Luckily, I choose running over Ben and Jerry!

So I slowly started running.  Than in April I was signed up for my first 5K and I knew I had to be ready.  I began running 3 times a week and enjoying my time just me and the road.

I ran my first 5k in under 30 minutes and ran the whole thing.  I was so proud of myself after the race.

Than I began my 40 hour a week job, on top of my second job and I started to just get lazy.  Getting up to go run takes a lot of work and I just didn't have it in me.  The truth is that running isn't the hardest part -- it's getting up and making the first strides that are the hardest.

Then I had my first winter in yank country.  If you thought getting your butt up to run in 60 degree weather was tough you should try 20.  Therefore this winter I put on some pounds with Christmas cookies, chocolate and alcohol.

Now that spring is in the air and bikini season in 68 days and counting and I am beginning to train for my 5k.

I ask that anyone that wants to join me in my journey come-along.

Although the programs I listed above are GREAT they just aren't for me.  Therefore I uploaded the Run Double App on my Droid.  It tracks how fast you run and tells you when to switch pace.  It is a great program for people (like me) who don't want to track their whole.

Well, first run starts at 6 am tomorrow!  Wish me luck!

XOXO,

Busy Girl

Williamsburg Winery

Visiting my big sister in Norfolk is just like taking a drive down memory lane to our childhood.

My sister and I.  Even at a young age we were

destined for Sombreros and Margaritas. 

Our younger years were spent playing with Barbies, dress-up and cooking with our Mom.  Well with our Mom in town we nixed the Barbies for Booze but still play dress-up and Cook with Mom. Somethings just never change!

Picture of My Mom, sister and me

before heading out for her birthday.

Sorry the picture is fuzzy, so was our

night!

Due to our Irish Italian Roots drinking wine is not just a part of our culture, it's apart of who we are.  We all decided with everyone in town to go to a winery for a visit.  The closet one to my sister is the Williamsburg Winery  Therefore, we packed up the cars and headed up to Williamsburg for the day.

The Urban Farmer and I have become a bit of Wine snobs.  We don't like the big commercialized wineries and unfortunately, Williamsburg Winery is a BIG winery.  In fact, it is one of the biggest producers of wine on the East Coast.  We both have found that the smaller winerys allow you the opportunity to actual meet the owner of the Winery, enjoy mom and pop wines and spend a day in the country.  Not here at Williamsburg.

You walk in and in-order to have a wine tasting you have to buy a $10 ticket to view the winery.  Being that this is our second trip to the winery and the fact we were all hungover from my sister's birthday party, the idea of sitting through a tour in order to drink wine just doesn't seem fun.  Just give me the wine!

For the tour we had an elder man as our guide, who was very knowledgeable about the winery.

On the tour, we saw a brief movie on the winery and the history of wine making in Virginia.

Picture from our last visit.  Me on

a Wine Barrel!

Each barrel holds 300 bottles of Wine.  If I EVER go 

missing this is the first place to look!

Next, we were given a tour of the winery.  We saw the room where the wine ferments, the steel drums the wine sits in, and a museum of the property.

But the Cherry on top of this Sundae was the wine tasting at the end.

Each glass of wine was better than the next.  Being that we had been here before we had tried all the wines in the selection  -- except the last one.  The wine was a delectable Vin Licoreux de Framboise, a mixture of red wine and raspberry.  The Urban Farmer and I feel in love all over again -- with this bottle of wine.

I plan on enjoy the raspberry flavors in this wine with a brownie in the near future.

It was a rainy day so we were unable to enjoy a bottle of wine after the tour -- but that is the BIGGEST draw back to the Williamsburg Winery.  At EVERY winery the Urban Farmer and I have been to they allow you, no invite you, to sit out side, enjoy a bottle of wine and their AMAZING view.  Williamsburg Winery forbids this simple request.

Therefore, if your new to wine tours, want to learn more about wine or want to see how the big wigs make wine head on down to the Williamsburg Winery.   You will learn a lot, drink some wine and end your day with a nice wine glass.

But don't take my opinion to heart.  Head on down to the Williamsburg Winery, it may just be your glas of wine!

XOXO,

Busy Girl

Slime Smoothie (The Green Smoothie)

That is right!  A green looking smoothie.  To me it looks more of the slime off of slime time live from my younger years.  (I think that I just dated myself!)

You know you are a 90's kid

when you would never miss this 

show!

Well I am trying to have a high fiber, high fruit and veggie diet!  So I decided a smoothie a day may keep the pounds a way.  Therefore, I hit the internet looking for a healthy smoothie.  That was when I came across the Green Monster Smoothie.

Is it breakfast yet?

A smoothie that combines peanut butter, bananas and spinach --  I AM SOLD!

Here are the ingredients:

1 Frozen Banana

1 cup of milk (I used Almond milk cause I feel bad all day when I drink regular milk)

1 cup non fat yogurt

1 tbs of peanut butter

4 oz of spinach (Mmm spinach!)

When I was a kid,

Popeye couldn't get me near

Spinach with a 6 foot pole!

Combine all ingredients in to a blender and ENJOY!

I bought this Blender TODAY!

Of course it's pink.  

Get it at Target!

** Make the night before, throw in the fridge and you have a breakfast on-the-go in the morning.  Perfect for this Busy Girl

VERDICT:

So this morning at 7 am I grab this smoothie out of my fridge.  As I drank it I could taste it's perfection running down my throat.  I only drank half of it till I was full! Therefore the other half is for tomorrow morning.  This smoothie made me full and actually gave me energy throughout the morning at work.  I have anemia so I am sure the iron from the spinach helped kick-start my day.

The Busy Girl heads to Texas!

Texas has been a world-wind adventure for this Busy Girl!

Houston Rodeo!

Wagon in Hobby airport!

So far I have met great conservatives, have prayed with 2 people, and had someone make me lunch!  I could stay here forever.

I love Conservatives in Trucks!

Since Day One I have been terribly busy!

Day Two was Valentine’s Day.  I woke up to a midnight call from my love, the Urban Farmer.  He is absolutely positively the best!  And although we weren’t together on Valentine's Day, it was nice that we were able to still talk.

Because check out for my hotel was at 11, I left the hotel and went searching in town to set up and work.  Well there was NO Starbuck’s or Panera’s in sight!  Therefore I ended up at a McDonald’s.

After taking a few bites of my burger I realized how bad I was and have been treating my body.  At that moment in this small McDonalds at the end-of-the-world I have solemnly sworn of McDonald’s for the rest of my life.  Now this may be a drastic measure by this once a week closet McDonald’s eater but I swear I can no longer EXPECT to fit in a bikini when I gobbling down HUGE cheeseburgers! 

In this moment, I realized that I need to start loving myself and taking better care of myself.  This means NO McDonald’s anymore.  Well except for Sweet Tea!

After my meeting in small town Texas I had to haul butt down to Dallas Lovefield airport in 2 hours to make it to my flight -- I had a 2 hour and 20 minute drive. 

Luckily, I made it to the airport and to my flight on time.

I landed in Houston and had plans to go play Trampoline Dodgeball and then head out for some Mexican.

Unfortunately, I got lost in Houston.  It took me close to an hour to get to my hotel even with the help of my cousin, Amanda!

But by the time I was dressed and ready to go Trampoline Dodgeball had been canceled.  Therefore the drinking started earlier. 

Amanda was the best substitute Valentine’s Date EVER!  I miss her so much and need to visit more!   We went to a Mexican restaurant and had a Fajita FEAST!  It was amazingly delicious!  And the margaritas were even better!

Valentine’s Day was a long day!  But it was definitely a great day.

The next day, I started my day in Houston and then headed over to Beaumont.  Beaumont, TX is probably the first big city you reach when you come in to Texas on I-10 from Louisiana.  Beaumont is actually home to my Daddy.  He grew-up in Nederland and his parents lived there until they died.   So it was a brief trip down memory lane.

I got in and out of Beaumont and straight to Hobby airport to head to Midland-Odessa!  My FAVORITE part about visiting Texas is eating at Pappasitos!  It is a great Texas chain Mexican Restaurant that is a must-see for my family.  Luckily, I got some in the Hobby Airport!  It was DELICIOUS!

Mmm Fajitas!

My Pappasitos meal!

I made it to Midland pretty late and passed out pretty early. 

Today, I was up at the crack of dawn for my 3 hour drive!  I ended up in a town that loves sheep.  No seriously there were sheep EVERYWHERE!  It was kind of cool.

Sheep!

More Sheep!

I ended my day with a 4 hour drive to my hotel and some yummy food.

So four days in Texas and I have been in 5 airports!  3 more tomorrow and I will be on my way home!  I have very much enjoyed my time here except the fact that all it has done is RAIN!  I know they need it but I was looking for some sunshine when I was down in Texas!

My Mom is in town this weekend so I am so excited to hang out with my best friend all weekend!

Have a good Friday!

XOXO,

Busy Girl

Pack a Lunch for West Texas

When traveling for work I often forget to eat during the day --  which leads to a pretty cranky Ashley at around 4 pm. 

Today I failed to eat since my banana at breakfast.  After my 3 o’clock meeting I had a 4 hour and 9 minute drive to my hotel tonight. 

Since I had recently dropped fast food from my diet (we’ll see how this goes), this rules out grabbing a burger on the go to eat during the drive.  Therefore, my plan was to stop at a town along the way and get some Bar-B-Que. Unfortunately, my plan failed.

NOTHING!

For all those who may not know, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to eat while driving along 277 and 83 in West Texas.  So literally, pack a lunch if you travel that way!

Also, there are no places to stop for gas.  I ended up stopping (only because I had to) at a little run-down gas station along the way.  It was one of those places where you’re not even sure if they took credit cards.  I was so out of place it was AWKWARD!  I felt like the girl in the country song “Good Directions” by Billy Currington.

By the time I made it to Childress at around 9 o'clock I thought that I was going to eat my hand. 

That was when I found this local charm.  Jakson’s Steaks & Bar-B-Que located in Childress, TX.

Mmmm.  The menu makes me hungry!

I walked into the place and it felt like a REAL lone star restaurant as opposed to the Lone Star Steakhouse I met the Urban Farmer at.  The walls of the restaurant were covered with the history of Texas.  They even had a whole wall dedicated to Texas Rangers.  Kind of cool!

I was immediately sat down and brought a glass of Sweet Tea.  It was good but nothing beats Publix Sweet Tea. 

The menu has an assortment of steaks, Bar-B-Que, sandwiches and salad (who eats salad at a Bar-B-Que place???). 

Although I was starving, I am still only a girl.  Therefore, I got a pulled chicken sandwich and onion rings.   I was REALLY craving mac and cheese but they did not have any.  How depressing. L

I placed my order, typed a short thank you note and picked up my phone to call the Urban Farmer when my food arrived.  Quick service -- just what this hungry girl needed.

My plate!  Just look at those onion rings and sandwich!

The food was marvelous.  The chicken was moist and the BBQ sauce was delicious.  My only complaint was that there was not enough meet on the bun.  A big drawback!

I’m sure I looked like an idiot surrounded by all these cowboys cutting my sandwich into small pieces and dipping it into the BBQ sauce.  I think I came across as a yank -- but who cares!

The onion rings where the icing on the cake.  The batter was delicious.  I almost got some to bring home -- but my running shoe put its foot down.

My whole meal ended up to be a little over $8.  Not a bad price for the amount of delicious food I got!

If you ever come passing through Childress or North West Texas and you are hungry, I suggest you try Jakson’s.  Now it may have been so delicious just because I was FAMINISHED but I still suggest you try it!

Let me know what you think!

Happy Belated-Valentine's Day to Me!

On this Valentine’s day I wanted to reflect on a type of love that is more important than anything else -- Self-Love!

I know that we have all taken the time to forget about the most important person in our lives, us.  Now, I don’t mean being self-centered, I mean taking some time for you sometime.

Over the years I have failed to show love for myself.  I eat McDonald’s, fail to go to the gym, don’t get enough sleep, don’t find time for things I love to do and don’t take care of myself.

Sometimes I get to wrapped up in helping someone else or work or my social life that I forgot that I need to take care of me sometimes.

Let’s take a look at my senior year of college.

I was taking 5 classes, interning 20 hours a week and working 32 hours a week.  I was a member of my sorority and maintained A grades.  But being so busy I forgot to take care of myself.  Looking back on my last semester in college I see how tired I was, how overweight I got and how little fun I had.  I know that I was working hard and without doing all that I would not be where I am today. 

But I ask myself, would it have killed me to have taken an hour a week and go to a spin class, or make dinner as opposed to eating the crap food at Disney world.

Me overweight at my College Graduation.

So today on Valentine ’s Day, I challenge everyone to take a moment and give yourself a little self-loving.  The truth is, you will never find anyone that will love you for who you are until you start loving yourself. 

We all have a long life ahead of us, but if we stopped worrying for one moment about work, or the kids or your significant other and took a moment to remember and love ourselves.  Finish reading that book you started 2 years ago,  pull out your running shoes and take a jog, start knitting again.  Just make time to be with you.

Next week, I am going to start with one hour a week for myself and slowly work it up to more.

Love yourself this Valentine’s Day!  You’ll be with yourself FOREVER!