Day two.....

......of the 'get back to biking' plan!   I did another 30min on the elliptical tonight after work and I felt great when I finished.  There are other people at work that use the gym also, but I was able to get a quick picture before anyone else came in tonight.  I know...I'm crazy, lol.

For now, I'm planning on two days a week.  We'll see how it goes!

~Chelle

Valentine's Day Surprise!

Well, as we all know, today is Valentine's Day.  As you all might not know, I have a boyfriend (fairly new).  Well, he surprised me today by having flowers delivered to work!!!   We decided since I am going up to see him tomorrow, that we'd wait to celebrate Valentine's Day until the weekend - I can't wait!



Here are the pictures!

Aren't they GORGEOUS!!!!! 

There are tons....tons....of flowers in the arrangement!

They are all red and white and they smell absolutely WONDERFUL!!!

There are lillies, daisies, carnations and roses.  I love them all!

There was another surprise with the flowers.   A cute little bear!!!

You can see him in this picture!

I put the flowers on the top of the hutch that is part of my desk at work.  This way I can see them all day long, and the scent wafts down every once in a while and it's just great!






















Soooo........... you're probably wondering who they came from, huh?   His name is Wolf (well......that's his nickname, lol, no real names here!). Why Wolf?  Well, for one, he likes wolves.  For two.....I guess that's the only reason, haha.  Not really sure how much other info to put here, since I'm not inclined to tell the whole story from the beginning in one fell swoop.  I'm sure he'll be mentioned here more, hence the need for a nickname for him.  For now, I will say that he makes me deliriously happy and I can't imagine my life without him.


Hope you had a good Valentine's Day!

~Chelle

Better late than never.....Better one than none.......

So....way back before winter arrived in New England (probably November, lol) I decided that I was going to join a gym and ride the stationary bike through the winter so I wouldn't lose the ability to ride that I built up over the spring, summer and fall.  Well, I can tell you, that didn't happen.  I think I managed two or three days back in November and/or December.  Since then life has apparently been too busy (yeah, it's an excuse, I'm sure).  What makes it even crazier, is I have a free gym at work (literally upstairs from my desk). 

Well, yesterday I brought my workout clothes to work and did 30min on the elliptical after work!  In my gym travels before winter, I determined that the elliptical works the same basic muscles as cycling does, without the weird shaped seats that the stationary bikes have (I just got too used to my road bike's seat).  I decided to start with 30 min a few times a week and work up from there.  Yesterday I did 5min on incline 1 (the lowest, max = no idea) and resistance 1 (the lowest, max = 6), then 5min incline 1 resistance 4, then 5min on 1, then 5min incline 3 resistance 4, etc.... and kept alternating.  It wasn't too bad, but I could definitely feel it in my legs when I finished.  Surprisingly I wasn't sore today, so that was nice.  My plan is to go Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I think I'll up the resistance and incline tomorrow and see how I am.

~Chelle

Cooking up a Storm!

I decided the other day that it's about time I cooked some actual food....rather than eating cereal and breakfast foods for dinner every night.  I know....a radical idea!

So, while I was at work, I searched online for some dinner ideas and found some that sounded pretty good.  I printed them out and made a list of what I needed to buy, and went shopping after work.  Bought a TON of food (or so it seemed)...enough for 4 meals!

So, what did I make with what I bought?  Glad you asked!

Citrus Chicken Stir-Fry

This is what was for dinner tonight.  It is based on a recipe for Mandarin Chicken.  There is stir-fry chicken, broccoli, onion, peppers, carrots, and mandarin oranges in the dish.  The recipe called for a Mandarin Stir Fry sauce, but I used a citrus vinaigrette that I marinated the chicken in.  Then I cooked the chicken and all the vegetables with the vinaigrette.  I had it over egg noodles for dinner.  It was good!!!

Beefy Rice Skillet

 Made this last night (along with the next dish).  I actually followed the recipe pretty closely with this one.  I used stir-fry beef (recipe called for ground beef), a bag of Bird's Eye mixed vegetables, a can of diced tomatoes, a couple cans of tomato sauce, 2 cups of beef broth and 2 cups of instant rice.  I had my doubts as to how this would turn out.  It actually turned out pretty good!  I had some for lunch today, and this would make a great filling for a burrito or wrap, especially with some salsa added to it.

Fiesta Beef with Spaghetti

 I haven't tried this yet, but it seemed to be a twist on traditional American Chop Suey.  There is ground beef, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, black beans, and onions.  The recipe calls for spaghetti to be mixed in, but I cooked some elbows to have with it.  

Now, I did say four meals, and there are only three up there.  The fourth was an idea that I stole from someone I know, lol.  It is Easy Chicken Alfredo.  I bought a rotisserie chicken, jar of alfredo sauce (Classico is made with cream instead of soybean oil!), and penne pasta to have it with. 

So those are my cooking adventures from the other day!  Don't expect too many more before next week or the week after, lol!

~Chelle

Superbowlllll Sundayyyyyyy

At the title suggests, this post is about Super Bowl Sunday.   Two days from now.  I did some baking after work tonight and made some cupcakes for Sunday, and well as some food.

Mini Cupcakes for the 49er's and the Raven's:

 Raven's Cupcakes
Black cake, white icing, black sugar sprinkles in purple cupcake papers

49er's Cupcakes
Red cake, white icing, yellow sugar sprinkles in gold cupcake papers

 Southwest Egg Rolls

I used Nasoya brand egg roll wrappers.

Filling consists of ground beef, corn, pinto beans, mexican

cheese and various southwest spices.

Going to pick up some salsa and sour cream to go with them!

~Chelle