Tornado Alley

Welcome to Oklahoma City and Tornado Alley!

Check out the hail coming down in the middle of a tornado that came through OKC last night! It was reported to be up to baseball and softball sized in some areas!

The stadium staff even had to put their “shelter-in-place” emergency plan into effect and moved all fans to the service level of the stadium.  In all my years at Camden Yards, we planned for such emergency situations to be prepared but were never actually faced with one so it was actually kind of cool to see it all put into action.  Although I’m sure here in Tornado Alley, it’s not a rare occurrence.

Luckily I was able to get my first baseball game soft pretzel in before the clouds moved in and the bad weather took over the stadium.

Workout

I started the morning off with a workout in the hotel’s fitness center. I mixed strength training with one mile runs to make a full cardio/strength circuit workout.

Circuit #1

• 1 Mile Run
• Chest Press
• Push Ups
• Flies

Circuit #2

• 1 Mile Run
• Shoulder Press
• Anterior Shoulder Raise
• Lateral Shoulder Raise

Circuit #3

• 1 Mile Run
• Bench Dips
• Tricep Kickbacks
• Overhead Tricep Extensions

Each strength exercise was performed for 15 reps and 3 sets.

I haven’t lifted in a little over a week and my arms have been shaking since I finished my workout!

Breakfast

The hotel has complimentary hot breakfast so we hit that up as soon as I was done my workout. The options are abundant; yogurt, cereals, waffles, sausage, french toast, omelets, oatmeal, muffins, pastries, bagels, coffee, etc.

I actually was able to contain my cravings for a little of everything and filled my plate with an English muffin, cheese omelet and maple sausage.

And then made a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich!

I also grabbed a banana and apple with some peanut butter packs for quick snacks later in the day!

Off to find a place to live in our new city!!

Question:

Have you ever been through a tornado before?

God Bless the USA

I want to give a big THANK YOU to all of those men and women who are currently serving our country and to all those who served in the past. Your work to keep the US of A safe is never forgotten. I’m appreciating this day a little more this year after spending a few months out of the country – there really is no place like America!

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God Bless the USA!

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Workout

My first outdoor run since getting back. I thought the humidity was bad in the gym – whoa – getting out there on the streets really kicked my butt!

I ran just under 3 miles but was able to keep a pace right over 8 min/mile so that is improvement!

Breakfast

I figured why not start the new week off with the same popular breakfast from last week?

One fried egg, cheddar cheese and turkey bacon on an English muffin. Delish!

I have a busy day ahead of me and from the looks of it my little buddy isn’t going to make it an easy one.

Since last night, Trouble seems to be his new name.

Yep, that would be Daddy’s hat that he found and claimed as his own. I’ll let this one slide though since I know he misses him!

Question:

Do you know any military men or women? Have you thanked them today? Give them an extra one from me too please!

First Trip Back

Friday night I made my first trip back to Camden Yards to watch an Orioles game in person and to catch up with many of my old coworkers that I miss dearly. It was definitely strange to be back and to be on the “fan” side of things. Instead of running around like a crazy woman on game night, I was able to enjoy a few beers and really just take in the atmosphere.

It was so nice to be back in an American baseball stadium with announcers I could understand, names on the back of uniforms that I could actually read and a National Anthem that I could hum along to. Not to mention the familiar faces all around really made the night perfect.

The only thing that I would say is better in a Korean baseball stadium – beer is $2.00 instead of $10.00! 🙂

Workout

I spent much of yesterday sleeping or laying on the couch basically in a sleep like trance so waking up this morning and getting a run in first thing felt amazing.

It wasn’t much (the humidity here is still kicking my butt) but 3 miles are under my belt and I’m ready to start the day now!

Breakfast

During my couch time yesterday, I did my fair share of catching up on blogs that I have been missing lately and came across Julie’s recipe for Banana Vanilla Protein Pancakes. I made a mental note to try them soon and this morning seemed like soon enough for me.

I didn’t have cottage cheese on hand so I subbed fat-free plain Green yogurt for that and used a food processor in place of the immersion blender that I don’t own.

Aside from the two slight changes, the pancake batter was still smooth and creamy and the final product was delicious.

Next time I’ll add my peanut butter protein syrup on top instead of regular maple syrup though! 🙂

I’m off to get some things done around the house before heading to church and a Memorial Day barbecue with family. It will be so good to see some of the extended family that I haven’t seen since before I left for Korea.

Question:

What are your Memorial Day plans?

Girl Time

Workout

After a day of travel and a day of being crushed with jet lag yesterday, I finally made it to the gym this morning for a workout.

I kept the complete workout to running only and covered a little over 5 miles on the treadmill. The difference in humidity between here and Korea is crazy and the difference in my running because of it was crazier. I felt so heavy and couldn’t breathe for the majority of the run. For as in shape as I felt on my runs over there, I felt even more so out of shape today. Wow!

After the gym, we had a very important stop to make.

My first Dunkin Donuts coffee since being back. I forgot just how good American DD tastes and downed this large iced coffee in no time. Perfect post workout treat!

The rest of the morning was filled with girl time. Manis and pedis for my best friend, Jeremy, and me courtesy of Brian.

It was so nice to just relax and chat away with a girlfriend for a bit and it continued over lunch as well.

Lunch

We grabbed lunch after our appointments at Qdoba.

A naked ground beef burrito. I don’t order ground beef in my burritos/Mexican meals often but whenever I do, I remember just how much I love it!

Now it’s time to head out for his and hers haircuts before taking Telli for a walk and running errands. We have a busy evening ahead of us!!!

Question:

Chicken or beef in Mexican Meals?