muppets

#100HappyDays – Days 8 – 14

/ Amy / 5 Comments

It hasn’t been very long, but I’m enjoying the happy days challenge so far. I’m trying to remember my happy things throughout the day as a way to stay focused on all the good things in my life and smile more. I don’t know if that’s actually working, but it’s not hurting. So, with no further ado, here’s week two:

Day 8: Having a Muppet movie marathon. Okay, to be fair, we only watched two movies and that’s hardly a movie marathon.  We’ll watch another one or two soon, though.  The first movie we watched was the new Muppet movie: Muppets Most Wanted. It was very funny, and I liked it a lot. We saw it in the theater, so I also got to have movie popcorn for lunch. The second movie we watched was Muppets From Space. I think this one is from the late 90’s, and is centered on the origins of Gonzo. I liked Muppets Most Wanted better out of the two, but that could just be because it’s new.

Day 9: Easter candy from Winfrey’s. A few months ago, or maybe it’s a year now, a handmade candy store opened near our house. This weekend we stopped in to pick up a small treat while taking a walk, and that’s when we found something awesome. Candy eggs filled with fudge. So, obviously, we spent $10 on candy, which we ate over the course of two days.  Chocolate for the win! See, I told you the grilled cheese wouldn’t be the only happy thing based on food.

Day 10: Knitting for someone special. I’m knitting a blanket for my soon to be niece or nephew. It’s fun to knit and I like imagining a little baby wrapped up in the blanket in just a few months! I can’t wait to become an aunt for the second time. 🙂

Day 11: Stocking up on Chickpeas Yes, I’m aware that this sounds incredibly lame, but having a freezer full of beans is definitely a happy thought. We buy bags of dried beans, cook them, and then freeze them in 1-1/2 cup servings (equivalent to one can). We like to have a supply of chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, and pintos.  In a typical week, we use anywhere from 4 to 8 “cans” of beans in chilli, hummus, tacos, and bean burgers. Eating all these things makes me happy, so having the ingredients is also a happy thing.

Day 12: Finishing a hard workout I didn’t feel like doing I’ve been having a serious motivation issue this week for reasons unknown, and had absolutely no desire to run intervals on the treadmill today. Luckily, I have an awesome husband who will encourage me to come with him to the gym even if I’m whining about it and dawdling and he’d probably prefer to just leave my annoying self at home. Once I started running, I was perfectly happy doing it, and I really love intervals. They make me feel fast and awesome.

Day 13: Watching Friends with Jeff Sitting on the couch with Jeff watching Friends (or something else we find funny) is definitely one of my happy places.

Day 14: Visiting with mom A trip to Buffalo is always full of a lot of family time, and I got it kicked off right by having lunch and running errands with Mom and Pam, then Beth came over to visit and eat pizza. What a great time!

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The Friday 5 – 3rd Edition

/ Amy / 1 Comment

We’ve made it, it’s Friday! And, it’s SPRING! Here are five things I decided to write about, have fun reading them:

1. It’s TEST day. Yup, today’s the big day. I’m posting this nice and early before I head out for my test, so hopefully I’m doing well, send me some good vibes! I’ve already got some coming my way, but the more, the better. Next time I post, I could be an aspiring actuary who’s passed the first test! UPDATE: I passed my test!!! Thanks for sending your good vibes my way!

2. I’ve been thinking about racing a lot lately. Reading a lot of race ads and race re-caps will do that to a person. And, all this thinking is going to be turning into blog posts.  The first will probably be out before the next Friday Five. Hooray!

3. This is my mini figurine of Dr. Teeth. He’s the lead singer of the band “Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem”.  I wonder if he’ll be in the new Muppet movie? (That comes out TODAY, by the way) I think the band’s most famous song is “Can You Picture That?”

"Everybody's lover, everybody's brother, I wanna be your lifetime friend."

“Everybody’s lover, everybody’s brother, I wanna be your lifetime friend.”

Fact is there’s nothin’ out there you can’t do
Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you.
Beat down the walls, begin, believe, behold, begat.
Be a better drummer, be an up and comer.  

CAN YOU PICTURE THAT??!!

4. They are building this monstrosity next to our condo. It’s a garage. I don’t love it. But, on the bright side, construction is on schedule to finish this June!  They started last February, so yeah, I’m ready for it to be over. I don’t want to live in a construction zone. Construction kinda makes me want to puke. 

Monstrosity, or garage, whatever.

Monstrosity, or garage, whatever.

5. I ran outside yesterday! It was the first day of Spring and was nearly 50F, and all the snow and puddles are gone. How nice. I don’t mind running outside in the winter (but don’t love it), and I also don’t mind the treadmill (of course, there are also drawbacks). What I have a problem with is change. Switching between the two is not my favorite. Once I get in a routine, I’m fine with either and don’t want to switch back. Today’s run was good, though. Hopefully, the warm weather sticks this time.

Also, it's 6:30PM and it's light out!

Also, it’s 6:30PM and it’s light out!

Have a good weekend! I hope you run long, eat delicious food, and see the Muppet movie – or whatever you do for fun! 🙂

The Friday 5 – 2nd Edition

/ Amy / 4 Comments

Happy Friday!  Interested in some randomness? Yes? Well, you’ve come to the right place.  Enjoy my Friday Five:

1. When I do intervals on the treadmill, I change the setting to kilometers. I know that 400m is almost the same as 1/4 mile, but it’s not quite, so using the kilometers setting makes more sense to me. Of course, the entire time, I have no concept of what the numbers on the screen mean in terms of distance and speed. It’s kind of fun. I’ve figured out what the equivalent km/h setting is required for my interval pace, and that’s all I really need to know. Last night, the woman on the treadmill next to me kept looking at my screen; I’m really hoping she was confused/impressed by how fast it said I was going (even though I wasn’t – haha). Also, maybe this will help me get a bit of a handle on the metric system, I’ve always wanted to be better at that.

2. It’s Pi Day!  I’m thinking of making something pie related to celebrate, but I just made chocolate chip cookies yesterday, so maybe not.  I made these: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/05/27/the-best-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/ and they’re quite delicious.  They don’t look great, though. And they are thin, wafer thin. Ha!

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3. Jeff and I have one car. Her name is Betty, but admittedly, we don’t refer to her by name very often. One of the best little features that our car has is a saved seat position button. So when I get in the car, I just need to push “2” and the seat automatically goes to my preferred position. It’s a really awesome feature in a shared car. I still have to adjust the review mirror, but that’s not nearly as irritating as adjusting the seat would be. Whoooa, black Betty, bam ba lam!

4. I’m really freaked out about my test next Friday. I’ve been doing practice tests for a few weeks now, and I have only completed one that I feel confident would be a passing score (the grading is complicated, and there is not a predetermined percentage that would indicate a pass, so I don’t know for sure). I’ve really put it out there leaving engineering and pursuing this, and pretty much everyone I know knows I’m taking this test. I think that having to tell everyone that I’ve failed would be worse than actually failing. I’m generally a good test taker, and I know that people expect me to be able to pass. The test is so hard, though! The pass rate is less than 50%, more than half of the test takers fail…ugh!

5. While I’m terrified of next Friday, I’ve reserved a little piece of myself to be excited for the new Muppet movie. I’m a HUGE fan of the Muppets, and Muppet movies, and I can’t wait to see it. I’m hoping it will be playing at 9AM like the last Muppet Movie. I like going to the movies in the early morning – it’s cheaper and there are less people. (Yes, I still get popcorn).

Me and my Muppety Friends, Mupbert and Princess Muppette:

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And, that’s it for the second edition of the Friday Five. Enjoy your weekend.