The Proposal!!!!

As follow up to my last post...topping off an already exciting month in April, on Easter day Kris proposed to me! Kris and I had actually just celebrated our 5 year anniversary a few days earlier. We had been talking about getting married for some time and I forewarned Kris that since we had been dating for awhile that I didn't think he could really surprise me. Well I guess he accepted that challenge and won because I was more than surprised when he did propose.

We were at our apartment in Schaumburg getting ready to meet my parents for Easter mass. I was as usually running behind and focused on figuring out what to wear, fixing my hair and make-up...you know, the usual. Meanwhile, I didn't notice Kris pacing the floors. Kris told me that the Easter bunny had brought me a present. He gave me this cute box that he had made and I opened it up to find an Easter egg inside. At first, I thought could it be? But then I shook the egg to hear what could be in it but it sounded like two earrings rattling around. It turned out that it was a pair of diamond earrings. I was really excited about the present and put them on immediately. Then I went about getting ready again.

Getting this gift definitely threw off any thought of us getting engaged on the same day. Well I was wrong about that. A few minutes later Kris said that the Easter bunny had brought me another present. I thought to myself, this must be like a chocolate bunny or some sort of candy. As I went into the hallway to see what it was, I was completely shocked as Kris opened up a small box and got down on his knee. As I realized what was happening, I started balling and I can't tell you what Kris said to me! I was just so overwhelmed and surprised! I believe I just held out my hand, shaking my head yes.

We both called our parents after it happened. My parents and Kris' parents were of course thrilled! Kris had actually asked my father in December and told my mom a few days prior to the proposal. Good thing because less than 24 hrs later she was already telling people! She's not very good at keeping secrets. Not that I blame her, because I wanted to post it on Facebook immediately but had to wait till we could tell our families first!

With all that being said, I'm super excited to be engaged. I couldn't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. He is the love of my life and one of the most giving people I've ever met. We are planning a fall 2012 wedding and I can't wait to dive into all the details once we finalize a venue and church.

End to the blogging hiatus!

After a long hiatus from blogging, I have decided to rededicate myself to blogging. Since writing my last blog, I've worked at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, ran my first 5 mile race, got engaged, and resigned at CTCA due to our recent move to Columbia, MO.

We moved to Columbia about three weeks ago as Kris was accepted into Mizzou's DPT (doctorate of physical therapy) program. I'm so proud of him and all his accomplishments. I know he is going to make a great PT one day!

To back track a little bit on some pretty exciting events...in March, I ran my first 5 mile race at the St. Patrick's Day Race in St. Louis. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed running it. I trained a little bit prior to the run but I hadn't actually ran 5 miles since before Thanksgiving.It was really exhilarating and the weather was perfect. It was about 60 degrees and I had a great running partner, Cathy Morgan. The starting line was right next to Busch Stadium, Home of the St. Louis Cardinals...yes I was in enemy territory but no less sporting my cubs hat like a true cubs fan!

Starting Line

Cathy and Andrea Pre-Race

Andrea and Kris Post-Race

The race was of course followed by some STL bar hopping.

April followed with some pretty exciting events...one being my 28th b'day which was spent with friends in downtown Chi. The day began with running the 5K Race to Wrigley with Kris, Molly, Dan, Cathy and Brandon. Cathy and Brandon made the trek up from STL and it was great to celebrate my b'day with them. My bestie, Molly, made some fine b'day running shorts for me. Awesome!

The race was followed by a wonderful breakfast at my brother Nick and his girlfriend Kate's place. They live about a mile north of Wrigley and made an awesome breakfast for us!

The rest of the day was followed by seeing more friends including Kristin, Ryan, Courtney, Mike, Brittney, Kirk, Kat, Brian, some drinking games and hitting up some bars downtown.

Molly, Andrea, Cathy and Kristin

Kristin and Ryan

Adventures in the Snow!

What better way to spend a snow day then in the snow? I was a little hesitant seeing as I don't really have the proper snow gear but Kris loves adventures, outdoors and playing in the snow! So I made due with what I had on hand. We decided to make this our workout for the day since we didn't want to chance driving to the gym. 

We begin our journey here...

and the snow is a little deeper than Kris anticipated!

Eh oh well! Onward we go!

Roselle Rd., kind of like ghost town around here, very few cars on the road

Not too deep here but definitely cold out!

I decided to take the lead and show Kris how it's done.

Navigating through the snow is tricky business!

Testing the snow to determine if it's sturdy or not.

Like I said tricky business this snow navigating...

Next we made it to the park for some playground fun...

Don't fall! It was quite slippery on that playground!

That's actually the playground chairs!

It's been awhile since I've been down a playground slide!

King of the Picnic Table??

Ok so we've determined that Kris really loves climbing to the top of things!

King of the Hill! Yes we know!

Golf Road was our trek back and man was that really the workout portion of the adventure.

All in all, we had a really fun time in the snow. There were some snow fights along the way and lots of fun to be had. We were gone for over an hour and my legs are letting me know. What's great about snow is that when you have a snowfall like we did it makes for a really great leg workout. Sledding tomorrow?? We think so!

Chicago Snowpocalypse 2011

After a very exciting night including blizzard conditions and thundersnow. It was kind of exciting to wake up this morning to a winter wonderland! I felt like a kid again, so excited to have a snow day (school being cancelled)! Last night's blizzard was a bit interesting, Kris had to tape down our balcony door because the wind was blowing so hard that besides cold air getting in snow was literally coming in through the cracks. Definitely will have to speak with apartment management about that!

To recap yesterday's excitement....the snow began approximately around 3pm. I forgot to pick up some Almond Milk so we made a quick stop before the snow really started in, bad idea! There were so many people there! 

Jewel at 3pm on Tuesday before the blizzard!

Roselle Rd on our way back home. Traffic at 3pm?? Must be a blizzard on it's way!

Blizzard from our apartment window.

Last night was a great night for some yummy hot chocolate. It's a good thing Kris suggested us picking up some when we were at the grocery store the other night. Plus, it was the perfect moment to try out my new low calorie hot chocolate recipe. When we were out we picked up a box of Swiss Miss Diet Hot Chocolate. Only 25 calories per packet!

Yummy hot chocolate under 100 calories!

Low Cal Hot Chocolate Recipe
1 packet Swiss Miss Diet Hot Chocolate
1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
12-15 mini marshmellows

Upon waking up this morning this was the view outside our window. Lots of snow but it had stopped snowing at that point.

Views from our apartment window this morning

Views from our apartment window this morning

As a celebration of the snow day I decided to make a lower calorie pumpkin pancake recipe for breakfast. I found the pumpkin pancake recipe at Pumpkin Pancake Recipe and followed the recipe with a minor changes. I also tried out Cary's Sugar Free Syrup because it's only 30 calories per serving and doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup. Not too bad and definitely worth the savings in calories.

Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 cup vanilla almond milk
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (flour through the cloves).
2. In a small dish, beat the egg and egg whites until fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients to the egg mixture, and beat until combined. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture.
3. Pour batter by 1/4 cup fulls onto a preheated griddle, and cook about 3 minutes, until bubbles start to appear on the surface of the pancakes. Flip the pancakes, and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, until cooked through.

Serves 6
Per Serving Calories 205 (less than that when using almond milk vs. skim milk)

Makes quite a few pancakes.

Low Calorie, Sugar Free Syrup

Saturday Night Fiesta!

I would have to say that besides Italian food my next favorite would be Mexican food! I love tacos, fajitas, guacamole, empanadas and horchata, just to name a few. So Saturday night Kris and I decided it would be a great night for some Mexican food.
 
Saturday Night's Fiesta consisted of healthy Mexican which included guacamole for an appetizer and shrimp fajitas. In mentioning guacamole, I should let you know that I'm pretty obsessed with avocados. Besides being tasty...they are good for you because they contain monounsaturated fat which is good fat. They have tons of other great health benefits, and are a great replacement for things like mayo and unhealthy dips. Just a note to be careful with avocado though if you are trying to lose weight. Although being very good for you, there is about 300 calories in a medium sized avocado. I definitely don't want to steer you away from eating avocados, just be aware that you shouldn't be eating like six avocados a day! I was told that you should limit your avocado intake to about one avocado a day. There are also some studies that talk about how eating avocados can help speed up your metabolism and they also help keep you full, longer.

Enough about avocados...here is my guacamole recipe that is great with cucumbers, celery, chips, delicious on tacos and much more I'm sure.

Andrea's Delicious Guacamole Recipe

2 medium sized avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
2 small tomatoes, diced (I like to use plum tomatoes.)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 small jalapenos, seeded and diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup red onion, diced (optional)
1 small lime, halved and juiced
salt to taste

Directions:
You will need a medium sized bowl. Place in your bowl the avocados (first), tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos*, garlic and red onion (optional). Then before adding the lime and salt, I like to use a fork and mash and mix everything together. I prefer my guacamole to be on the chunkier side so I don't mash and mix it too much. Then add lime juice and salt to taste and mix that evenly throughout dip. Serve with chips, veggies or as a taco topping! Enjoy!

*As a suggestion if you haven't worked with jalapenos before I would wear gloves if you can. The seeds are quite powerful and getting them on your fingers, hands and later in your eyes can be an unpleasant experience.

Finished guacamole! Yum yum!

Kris' Shrimptastic Fajitas Recipe

1 package of La Tortilla Smart & Delicious Low Carb, High Fiber Original Whole Wheat Tortillas
Approx. 20 ready-to-eat shrimp (50/60 shrimp)
1 green bell pepper, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 small white onion, julienned
1 tbsp. olive oil 
1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tbsp. onion powder

1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ancho chile powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery salt

Taco Toppings
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 c. diced tomatoes
sour cream
fat-free shredded cheese
extra guacamole from dip

Directions:
In a medium size bowl, coat shrimp with spices (garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, black pepper, salt and celery salt). Then saute green bell peppers, red bell peppers and white onion in olive oil for approximately 5 minutes. Add shrimp to the vegetable mixture and saute for an additional 3 minutes.

Lastly, add shrimp/vegetable mixture and desired toppings to a tortilla! Enjoy!
Serves 2-3

Kris showing his "flipping" technique. He is quite the Bobby Flay!

sauteed bell peppers and onions

sauteed shrimp and veggie mix

Shrimp Fajitas!