I'm down:(

With all this packing and moving across states, without family, I've been really down and stressed so tonight my husband tried to cheer me up with a trip to Whole Foods for some staple to hopefully last me until Thanksgiving. It defintely cheered me up and while I'm only trying to post once a day, I just had to share my LOVE of all my goodies!

• LaCroix grapefruit
• Clif waters in Orange and Lim-ade
• Honest Teas in Lemon and Tropical Mate
• 2 Blue Diamond Almond Butters
• Zevia Diet Soda in Natural Twist
• Pro Bars in Cran-Lemon Twister and Nutty Banana Boom
• Justins Nut Butter Sample Packets
• 2 Peanut Butter and Jelly Larabars
• 2 Coconut Cream Pie Larabars
• 3 Tropical Fruit Tart Larabars
• 1 Choclate Orange Jocalat Larabar
• 2 Clif Shot Bloks in Black Cherry

And of course one Chobiani Strawberry and Oikos Blueberry!

Can't wait to try these all soon and get out of this nasty funk!

Records, Packing and Moving oh my!

Starting off my Monday morning with a CHALLENGE #2 WEEKEND update. The challenge this weekend was to relax and enjoy this last weekend in Minneapolis with my family! I sure did that with dinner Friday night, Shopping all day Saturday and going to the Fair all day yesterday!

Today is a packing day for me, so I started packing and stopped to read some blogs this morning and the new Health magazine, which I love behind Shape and Fitness! I also had a key lime larabar!

This is my apartment in the middle of the mess, such a disaster!

Taking down all my pictures and packing books!

My snack today was trail mix in a peanut butter jar!

• walnuts
• apricots
• mini peanut butter cups
• golden raisins
• pumpkin seeds
  
  I'm now trying to obtain my shot records and they might have lost them, pack more and keep the stress sown, which has become harder and harder!

How do you manage your stress?

Great Minnesota Get Together Recap

So today might be a LONG post because I got a NEW CAMERA finally! My parents surprised me with a Kodak Easy Share M1073 IS and I took lots of picture for my 24th Birthday and State Fair Day!
First things first my 5K this morning was awesome, cold though: 45 degrees:(
I managed to get under 24 minutes though which is a new PR for me. I chalk this up to my banana and almond butter for breakfast combo!
After the race I chaged for the day into my new jeans and my race t-shirt with my hubby of course!
Next we walked over to the DNR building to see the fishies!

The I saw this and HAD to take a picture: BIG FAT BACON! I can't believe people actually buy this!

And deep fried candy bars, oreos and twinkies!

This is me with my first food item of the day: Free mini donuts, because my mom knew someone who worked there, No Surprise, she knows everyone!

This pumkin is only 2nd place! And it was over 1000 pounds!

We were trying to go for the Christmas Card picture here:

And here:

Spam Burgers!

My husband and his fascination with lawn mowers, but one look at the price tag and we were off!

This is the funniest car ever, but my dad had one of these when he lived in Japan and they are almost street legal here!

My second food of the day: Cheese Curds with mustard, although I prefer mine with pizza sauce!

We recycle our corn cobs, how awesome is that and I bet that thing gets full in an hour or two!

And the famous Corn Roast! My mom grew up with the owner so every year is more free corn and you can smell the roasting for miles, so fun to watch them cook it even!

Space Needle, I'm not brave enough to go on, very afraid of heights!

Everyday there is a parade and since it's U of Minnesota day: Enter cheerleaders, since I used to be one in high school I love watching them and have always wanted to continue on with cheering! Did you also know that the University of Minnesota had the first cheerleaders EVER!

The Giant Slide, mu mom also knows someone who works here so when my brother and I were little we would go all the time, but I'm too old for it know. But people get married on this thing every year, crazy I know!

The butter queens being carved out! That's alot of butter!

The cute little sheep, one was born 55 minutes before we came! Same b-day as me!

We took a sky glider trip, I was nervous the whole time looking down, watched little teens spitting down, and we could also here Kelly Clarkson rehearsing in the Grandstand, then she cancelled her condert tonight due to illness! Sucks if you had tickets.

Well that was my fair adventure, I did eat more just didn't take pictures of little morsels here and there! It was a great 24th Birthday as well!

I love my new camera. This is my last week here in Minneapolis, I'm sad to leave but know I will be back in the near future, can't last in Iowa forever!

Have you ever moved across states? Where and how do you deal?

A Coach Surprise?

This morning started out with a craving for something I haven't had in a long time: a lemon poppyseed muffin.

These things are so huge and my eyes were bigger than my stomach so I only ate like half, the insides of course!

Then my mom came and picked me up for our annual shopping trip in Albertville, MN. We met my mother in law, grandmother and 2 aunts! There are a lot of shops and we started @ 10:30 and went to 4pm. I got some shorts from Under Armour and a shirt from Puma for my 5K tomorrow morning. (Don't mind the wet hair and yucky Blackberry picture) It will look better tomorrow in the sun!

I also got an Aeropostale shirt for me nad my husband, a polo from Gap for my husband and my mother in law bought me 2 pairs of Silver Jeans for my birthday, total sscore for me!

We then went to dinner but since my mom needed to leave quickly I just had cheesecake there FREE for my birthday, YUM!

My husband and my Dad were fishing all day at the Lake so when I came home he wasn't there so I decided to do a quick short and had a quick unpictured pear and some grape tomatoes! I did a couple miles on the treadmill because there was a good movie on Lifetime and it's cold here already. When I came back in my apartment my husband was home and when I went to go show him what I got him there was a surprise in my package bags: A COACH BAG WITH A CUTE WALLET INSIDE!

Do I have the best husband ever or what. I already have a coach purse and this is the perfect addition!

Tomorrow starts bright and early with my 5K and State Fair all day!

Do you have a Coach wallet or Purse?

The only way I could afford to buy my Coach purse was when Macy's went out of business by me and they were 50% off! Can't pass that up.

Once a day Love!

After everyone's awesome comments I've decided to post once a day to say everything and if I do feel the need to post twice then whatever, but I don't want to feel the pressure anymore!
Also Erica told me I could add more than 5 photos just not at the same time, so that makes me excited! Thanks, Erica!
Breakfast was a bowl of cinnamon puffins cereal and milk that I ate while driving and shifting in traffic:) Opps, usually I make fun of those people that do a million things in a car while they should be driving, but I had no time this morning so I challenged myself and only ate half of the bowl because driving was a little more important!
I decided to have a 2 installment lunch because I sampled foodsall day at work, working in a deli is dangerous! Taco Dip, Special K bars, every kind of cheese and meat, fruit and veggie trays. I had only a couple of each. I also had a bowl of nut mix on break:

• golden raisens
• slivered almonds
• TJ's mini peanut butter cups
• walnuts
• pumpkin seeds

Did anyone else hear about the Sigg controversy. You should read the article and if you bought one before August 2008, get a new one! I still have to check mine, but I can't believe I threw away a couple Nalgenes only to find out Sigg is the same and they tried to hide it.

Just a little FYI for the day!

When I got home it was kind of warm so I tried a new combo. Carrot Juice + Mango
It was different but good, I only tried a teeny bit at first to see if I would like it, and then I made more!
So I'm off to relax and wait for the hubby to get home, then we are off to Olive Garden for a dinner out with friends from Wisconsin!

What are your last Friday in August plans?

Quality vs. Quantity

So the title of my post this morning is something I've been wanting to address for a while now! Do you think it's better to post a really good once a day post with everything or is it better to post 2-3 times throughout the day with certain meals?
I don't mind either way I just want to make sure everyone is able to read every post and comment when they want and also blogger only lets me put 5 pictures per post!
HELP!

Onto today, I went home did laundry, walked a lot outside and inside, made homemade salsa (our family is salsa kings, everyone asks for it every year), and took some picture of where I grew up!
This is my house where I grew up. We built it in 1996, and there's a huge park/pond in back and I just love the look!
This was my room in J.H. and H.S., yes it's lime green! It's changed a little because I don't live here anymore, but my curio cabinet in the corner is always a mainstay. It was the first piece of furniture my dad made me and it houses all my rocky horses and my waterford crystal piece from the actual factory in Ireland. This is my favorite thing, the treadmill, which has gotten more use in the past 5 years than most roads get:) Since we live in MN, running in negative, windy, snowy weather sometimes calls for this with a movie!

My mom and I also went to Tj's this afternoon for a couple things including these crackers, gorgonzola flavored!

I ate them with our homemade SUPER SPICY salsa, made with all veggies from my dad's garden! I got to bring some home for the hubby, so it will be gone before I know it now!

Todat was great going home and I stayed true to my CHALLENGE by not running and enjoying the company!

Have you made your own salsa or do you like store brands?

P.S. Rhodeygirltests is having a giveaway featuring something from her amazing honeymoon!

No picture morning

So camera is down and blackberry sucks at taking pictures, so I though I would just to a quick update and be back with pictures from the day later!
I'm at home doing laundry and thinking about all that I have to get done in the next week!
But first the weekend, which brings on WEEKEND CHALLENGE #2, which is going to be to relax and to enjoy this last weekend in Minneapolis. I have a really had time sometimes not thinking about running 24/7 and feeling guilty when I'm not perfect. So I'm going to try and let go!
My weekend includes:

• Indian dinner with friends from Wisconsin
• Annual girls shopping day @ Albertville Premium Outlets with my mom, my mother in law, my husbands grandma, 2 aunts and maybe a cousin! I look forward to this every year, especially the Coach outlet store, even though I already own 3 Coach purses, but I never pay full price!
• Minnesota State Fair 5K. This is the first 5K I ever did 5 years ago and it is by far my favorite one ever!
• Walk around and enjoy the Minnesota State Fair with my family! If you didn't already know this is the 2nd largest state fair in the country and I go every year if not twice a year! My mom also know lots of venders so we get a lot of free food, like Corn Roast corn, cheese curds, root beer, onion rings, and we used to get to go down the GIANT SLIDE for free too!

Two questions for you:
Do you collect things? I collect purses and rocky horses!
What's your favorite thing about a State or County Fair? Yummy food and people watching!

Be back tonight with tour of my growing up and foods!

Questions Answered?

So I don't know how to respond to the comments made on my posts so I need to answer some of them now before I forget!
Question #1: How is my brother doing?
My brother says he feels okay now, but still weak. He is still working full and is going back to college soon full time and has a loaded schedule. I try to reiterate to my family and him that this is serious and rest is necessary. Hopefully energy comes back soon for him though!
Question # 2: Cashew larabar like?
Nope, just not my kind:( I like my key lime larabars!
Questions # 3: Kiwi with skin?
Absolutely not! I like my kiwis naked!
Anymore ?'s I didn't answer or more you want answered you can always e-mail me @ leianna.hellinga@gmail.com

After the last post I went for an 8 mile run, no Nike + iPod so just guessing!
I then knew the hubby wanter pizza again so I try and make him top it with healthier options like grape tomotoes, yellow peppers, squash and chicken. So instead of me having pizza, I just put all the toppings in a bowl, topped it with cheese and melted it in the microwave!


With some ranch dressing on top!

And this is my fuel for tackling the laundry/packing!

Stay tuned for tomorrows 2nd WEEDEND CHALLENGE and a day in my hometown of Cottage Grove, MN. My last day at home with my parents. This is something I will truly miss, so savoring the day tomorrow.

Leftover Wednesday

I hit the snooze bar this morning for the first time EVER! I never hit the snooze button, I always get up the first time, so I think this was a hint from the body to get to bed earlier! We'll see how that works because of my never ending to-do list and packing my hurricane of an apartment!
Breakfast was quick with 2 kiwis and some blueberries:
I then worked from 7-2pm. For lunch I had some leftovers and my favorite m &m's, great stress reliever!

Yummy squash!

When I got home I found this in my mailbox:

It's a sample of Greens + and some chia seeds. Thanks to Diane from the company I get to finally sample these things. It even came with a cookbook for Fruity Chia Smoothie, Guaca-Chia-mole, Apple Chia crisps, Chia Quesadillas, Chia pancakes, Chia Stir-fry and Banana Chia Coconut!

Which one of those recipes would you like me to try?

They all look good, but would like other's opinions!

See ya later for another leftover dinner!