Happy New Year!

I cannot believe another year has come and gone. 

This year I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot at work. I learned how to travel. I pushed my body. I also learned how important it is to take care of myself; mentally, emotionally, and physically.

As for New Year's resolutions, last year I wanted to sleep more. I cannot say I completely failed or suceeded at that goal. It did help to have it on my mind. 

I look to 2012 for opportunity to work hard both personally and professionally. 

I had a crazy idea that I would try to run 365 miles, bike 365, and swim 365 miles. If I am able to complete this goal and show my progress to others. I was hoping that they would in turn make a donation to me or to a charity of their choosing in a quantity relating to 365.

I have realized work is not everything and I still want the challenge but I also want to make an impact. Hopefully, if someone reads this they might be interested in my proposition. I think I would like to check in monthly with my progress. 

This will also motivate me to train for triathlons. I plan to count my race miles as part of this exercise.

One other note I would like to try to mediate daily. I think having that quiet time can be beneficial for everyone.

Here is to hoping 2012 is a great year for everyone!

Celestial Seasonings Tea

Well since it is getting colder and I am getting a little tired of coffee I have started to experiment with tea.

While I was away from work and spending time with family we toured the Celestial Seasonings' Tea factory.  It was really cool to see the product line and here about all their various types of herbal tea. It turns out there are only three true kinds of tea- black, green and white. They each have varying amounts of caffeine. The tour also gives you the chance to taste their teas. I liked the Green Tea Peppermint holiday blend. 

It turns out they have a room to house the peppermint because it is bully in the seasoning world. It can over power just about any other scent. Which brings me to my last lesson learned, if you have different flavors of tea do not store them right next to each other because they flavors are likely to blend. 

I know I learned a lot on the tour and I would go again.

Their website is here. If you are ever in the mood for tea check them out!

  Check out their dress made out of their tea boxes and bags.

 Each one of their teas has a unique painting on the box. I liked this one.

Apple Pie

Today my parents and I made an apple pie. I have come to really love baking. It is nice to carefully work the ingredients put them in the oven and wait for something delicious to come out in an hour. I think I also really enjoy learning from my parents. It turns out I am horrible at pealing apples. 

One thing my family always does is reduce the amount of sugar and butter in recipes. I cannot speak for everyone but I can never tell it's is missing. Perhaps all it does is make me feel less guilty about eating dessert! 

I have to say I thought it would be more difficult to make but it was quite simple. I foresee more apple pie making in my future.

Merry Christmas

I had a very Merry Christmas. 

After the past year I feel so lucky that I get to spend the day with my family. I realize not everyone has the opportunity or even likes spending time with their family. We also have a tradition of making home made egg rolls for Christmas dinner. I leave you with a picture of our tree and wonderful dinner.

To anyone reading out there no matter what holiday you celebrate I hope you were able to enjoy it!

Santa to the SEA! (5k)

I was actually in town for a little bit of December before I got to go see snow. 

One of the very cool things I did was the Santa to the Sea 5k race. Maybe next year I will train for the Santa to the Sea 1/2 marathon. I got really lucky and one my age group with a time of 23:20! It's new PR for me. I think I had the home turf advantage because the race route was very close to the 10K I ran on the 4th of July this year. I also blame the cold. As much as I hate working out when it's cold outside I think it was to my benefit.

This race was also cool because they wanted you to give a donation to Toys for Tots. And they had a contest for costumes. Seeing Santa run is quite a sight!

I got a sweet hoodie for winning. Every finished received a medal. I highly recommend this race to anyone it is a pretty course right along the ocean. 

At the finish line, I got to try out some delicious snacks. My favorite were the new Jamba Juice coconut water and fruit drinks. I had a bad experience with pulpy coconut water but I highly recommend this as post workout recovery drink.