Run.Chew.Sparkle

Hey!!!!! Remember when I used to write and blog and post really fun and exciting things. I would talk about my life, my love of running, some new foods, etc....Yeah.... So LIFE got in the way. IN a BIG way and some things in my life had to take a back seat and unfortunately this was one of them. Life is seriously messy sometimes and complicated and all over the place and mine just kept getting that way. BUT I am making a GOAL going into 2018, to get back into my little piece of blog on the Internet and DIVE back in again. I seriously have missed sitting down, explaining the SPARKLE moments of my life, writing about the different eats and CHEW and gosh do I miss my RUNS. Okay, so since the last time I have posted, let me see if I can catch up a little bit... Lets start a little bit with running....or I shall say lack there of... Running took a big hit for me this year. From late last year and into this year, I was struggling through a LOT of calf pain and knee pain. I mean...

Holy Moly has it been awhile since I have actually sat down and wrote something. Life has been a roller coaster ride of a little bit of everything. Seriously all kinds of stuff going on. The last time I wrote was back in June. Life has been great actually. I have joined a gym with Planet Fitness and absolutely love it. I try to get there 2-3 days a week and then run or do a walk or something the other 2-3 days. I try to take 2-3 rest days, depending what I have going on that week. Work has been okay. My DM and mentor Jen, left the company and it was really sad for me. She has molded me into the SM and person I am today and it was really sad to see her leave our enviorment BUT she is and went on to bigger and amazing things. I am so happy and proud of her. Social life has been amazing too. I have made some new friends at work and really found a great group of people in my life with James's friends and friends I have made. I have been living in FL for 8 years now and FINALL...

Hey Friends! So yesterday I had kind of realization, I am not perfect! Wow shocker right!!! Duh no one is perfect. Believe me, NO MATTER what Instagram shows, no one is perfect. Despite how many awesome fitness food and work out posts are out there, NO ONE IS PERFECT. Heck I am lucky to have my shit together 50% of the day. Umm lets limit that 25% of the day and that is being generous to myself. Gotta pat my back sometime. And you know what that is okay.  I am imperfect. I make mistakes. I fall down a lot. I pick myself up and I continue on. Sometimes I make bad choices and sometimes I make really great one. Sometimes I sneak a piece of garlic bread and then have carrots as a snack. Sometimes I order the margarita, with the salt and I lick the whole rim of the glass and then wave the bartender down and order another. Sometimes I lay on the work out mat and just lay there for a good 5 minutes, with no motivation to continue on with my work out and walk out ...

Good Tuesday Morning! It has been awhile since I have posted with a Currently to update some things in my life, so I thought what a perfect time frame to do so, then the start of June!!! Current Book : Geez this one is sad because I have not been reading as much as I should be. Life has been super distracting, meaning I am not unwinding and sitting down with a good book, like I should be. I need to take more time to just do that, rather than chores, or looking at my phone or binge watching whatever is on T.V. These are bad habits I have fallen into. BUT I am reading the Nicholas Sparks book, Two By Two and I have to say it is a bit slower than his others, so it is taking me a bit to get into it and I think too thats why I have not been reading. BUT I am not one to stop a book midway so I am in to finish it. Current Music Everything Country Music!! Seriously from being back from Nashville, I have a whole new respect for music in general, not just Country Music. I am getti...

I have a little bit of a rant right now... Which by the way HI!!! I know it has been quite some time since I last posted. Life has been a bit crazy and super busy with work. Seriously I feel like all I do is work, sleep and eat haha. Oh and fit in some work outs here and there, which this week I have been on point, despite Mother Nature came and I was on a mini vacation with James. Okay so here is my rant... The other night after work I decided to go for a run. I do not run in the gym, I always hit the pavement around our neighborhood. Seriously I know each direction and the miles they will give me. I love my neighborhood, so many things to look at and at times lots of people out doing the same thing as me. People will honk as I am running on by, smile and wave, it is extra motivation I need. When I first started running I was nervous people would make fun of me, or see my jiggly thighs or if my shirt rised up a bit, how embarrassing. But then I got over that fear because...

It has taken me a week to just sit down and do a quick recap of Running Nashville. It has been a whirlwind of my life since getting back from Nashville and I have not really been able to relax all week. First off want to say that Nashville is an amazing city. It is so awesome, I seriously want to go back and vacation there again for much longer and it would be a city I would consider moving too, if I ever had to move. The city is filled with music after music, after music. Musicians start playing at 11:00 in the bars and go to the early morning. Each bar has at least 2-4 floors and on each floor there is another bar and live music on that one too. It is like getting 4-5 bars in one bar. Crazy I know but the coolest thing. And each level will have a different variety of country music playing, with a little rock and maybe some pop mixed in. We instantly loved Nashville once we went downtown. The downtown life is not only filled with bars but museums and fun atmosphere to do so much...

Good Friday Morning!!! This Friday is extra, extra amazing because I am in Nashville, TN!!! Which means I am on vacation and running this weekend at the Rock and Roll ST. Jude 1/2 Marathon! James and I arrived yesterday morning at 8:00 am. Our flight was out of Tampa at 7:00 and got here at 8:00 and it was an 1.5 hour flight. Yup we time traveled :0) I forgot that TN is in a Central Time Zone. It was so funny to see on our ticket that time change, it didn't dawn on me at first. We were so excited to be here. James and I have not had time off together in a really long time, definitely not back to back time off and we haven't had vacation since October  when we went back home for the wedding. We NEED this time together, believe me. I know it is the trip to get us back to US. Not realizing we couldn't check in early at our hotel, even though online it said you could, we decided to grab some breakfast, they let us leave our luggage and then we got a LYFT and...

It has been a week.... Yup and it is only Tuesday AND we had a Holiday on Sunday.. Crazy right, how one day can make it seem like it has just been all over the place crazy. When I am having a rough or bad day, a work out sometimes can be the last thing I want to do right? You just want to curl on the couch and just veg out, your energy from the day is drained and you are feeling all kinds of crappy. When I lack energy,  nothing, and I mean nothing seems fun to do or appealing. BUT I know I need to get out there and get a good work out in. And I know it isn't the bad day that is making me not work out, but it is what I choose to eat earlier in the day that has just made me feel icky. Good food choices through out the day make for better work outs and allow you to handle stress much better. So when you are having a bad day, do not go for chips, grease, fat, candy, cookies. Yes they seem sooooo good in the moment right. The sweet taste of a victory!! BUT it will not help...

Recipe ALERT :0)!!! So I have a part time job. Well it isn't really much of a part time job, I don't get paid for it. Except for in big wet, sloppy kisses and snuggles from this handsome guy... This is Sherman and he is my part time job on my days off!!! I watch him during the day for one of our friends while he is at work. Sherman has become my favorite part of the week and he is an absolute treat and blast to hang out with. He seriously makes my heart full with love and joy, I couldn't even express before. He has been the stand in puppy until the day James and I get our own.  Which seems forever away...  But having Sherman around has opened up and entertained the idea to James more and more of us getting our own dog. It has only taken 8 years!! One of my favorite thing to do with Sherman is going on walks and runs. He LOVES being outside and lucky for him, as do I. We go for long walks downtown and around our neighborhood, or even sometimes ...

Happy Tuesday!!! I know I am late in the day but man was today a crazy day. It was the Mondaiest of all Tuesdays. Yup that is a thing... But one thing that is getting me by is the fact we are going to Nashville in 18 days!!! I am so excited, seriously like so excited. And you know what I am most excited about, besides the half marathon I am running, is all the country music all the time. I LOVE LOVE Country music. It is practically all I listen too anymore. So in honor of my trip to Nashville, I am doing my Top Ten Tuesday on my favorite Country songs currently!! 10. Jason Alden- Any Ol' Bar Stool 9. Kelsea Ballerini-  Yeah Boy 8. Billy Currington- Do I Make You Wanna 7. Brother's Osborne- It Ain't My Fault 6. Zac Brown Band- My Old Man Makes My Heart just swell... 5. Something' I'm Good At- Brett Eldredge Follow him on SnapChat he is hysterical 4. Body Like A Back road- Sam Hunt 3. Hurri...

Did you know that April is World Autism Month? Did you know you can wear blue in support of Autism for World Autism Month? Did you know that there is a Tampa Bay Walk to support Autism Speaks?? If you are unfamiliar with Autism, Autism is described... Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. On April 22, The Autism Speaks Walk is being held in Tampa.  This walk is a beautiful way to donate, raise awareness and support those with autism and families with autistic loved ones. Autism Speaks is a non-profit organization and to learn more about what they do check out their website here, Autism Speaks.   Also if you have any questions about early Autism, how to screen your child or just some simple steps and answers to your journey of concern, Autism Speaks has all those ans...

I am so excited for April to be here. I have so much fun going on this month, like so much fun! okay lets talk excitements... Iron Girl 5k is this coming Sunday. Iron Girl is a special race for me, it was my first race I ever signed up to do and this will be my 5th year doing it. I would have loved to do the half but I am sticking to the 5k. I always get emotional at this race and this year I am running with Nanci and Corina again and we have a blast each time. Sherman's 2nd Birthday . This one is excitement mainly for me. Sherman is the doggie that I dog sit on my days off occasionally. He is the dog of one of my friends and I absolutely love this dog. I am going to spoil the heck out of him too. I have already started with some toys and snacks. Easter. I love Easter not only because it is a holiday but because it is a full day off from work, the mall is closed, it is nice. Plus it is a day I can spend all day with James. The biggest excitement of...

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Gosh it has been awhile since I have done a Top Ten Tuesday post. But you are in luck because today I am bring it back with a little bit of randomness! I live my life pretty randomly with my taste of music, food and life in general. Nothing is never the same and neither is my taste. So I figured to kick back off the Top Ten Tuesday, I was going to do the Top Ten random things I am loving right now! Sound good?? Good, lets go! 10. Seltzer Water . Seriously this seems crazy, like duh everyone loves water, but Seltzer water is my jam!! I grew up with my Poppy and he drank seltzer water all the time, it is actually the only thing he drinks, besides coffee and milk occasionally. He drinks it just plain But I prefer the flavored kind. I find myself searching out for flavored water more than ever, and when it is sparking or seltzer it is a win win for me. 9. Spark . Spark is an energy enhancement that is made through Advocare . You can buy it in a tu...

If there is one thing that I love is when restaurants introduce new food options and spice things up a bit or in the case of Winghouse, Strip it up a bit. Strip you ask, what the heck does that mean. Well Winghouse, has a new limited time only StripTease Menu , featuring some really fun, new, exciting items. On Tuesday night, I was with partnership through The Tampa Bay Bloggers was able to experience, drink and taste the new menu, let me tell you, I can not wait to go back just for the Deep Fried Twinkies alone. We will start with Dessert. .. Yup they went there and have on their dessert menu a Deep Fried Twinkie , that comes hot and drizzled with raspberry sauce. Being a healthy living guru type of person, I wasn't sure if I would eat it, but I mean when it comes to something as a Deep Fried Twinkie, you kind of have to try it AND it definitely did not disappoint. It is fried to a golden brown, and then oozes the minute you crack into that shell. It was worth the...