Ugly Sweater Day

Did you know that the 3rd Friday in December is Ugly Sweater Day? Yep. That's today!

I donned my ugly sweater leggings to celebrate.

My company had an ugly sweater contest last week for our holiday party. We had some pretty good contenders.

I didn't participate, but I was one of the judges. How do you judge which sweater should win? Is it the ugliest? The most creative? Store bought? Homemade? So much pressure!

Happy Thanksgiving

It's Turkey Day! Can you even believe it?!

This quote randomly found its way into my Inbox, and I really loved it!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. --Melodie Beattie

I sincerely hope your day is filled with GRATITUDE, delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, family & friends, good food & fun!

Gobble! Gobble!
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What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
How are you celebrating today? We are skipping all traditional aspects of Thanksgiving and are instead heading outside to enjoy some of the gorgeous nearby trails. I love living in Vegas!

3 Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost here! I thought I'd share some ideas to mix up your Thanksgiving Day celebrations and make the day a little more meaningful.

Merry Christmas Run

Last night I was so super tired, but I still could hardly get to sleep!

I was too excited!!

For a visit from Santa? Nope!
For a race? Nope!
For a fun solo run in a holiday themed running outfit along the Las Vegas Strip? You guessed it!

I almost wore this outfit earlier in the week, but decided to save it until my run on Christmas morning. I thought it would be a perfect way to spread some holiday cheer.

Mother Nature was both with me and against me.

With me because the temperature was perfect for wearing knee high compression socks with shorts and arm sleeves with a short sleeve shirt.

Against me because of the intense winds.

You know that feeling you get when you're riding a roller coaster and your cheeks are blowing in the wind? That's what it felt like during some of the gusty headwinds.

But when I caught a tailwind. Man, it felt like I was on FIRE! Well, you know what I mean.

In addition to the super windy conditions, I had a lot of skirt issues. The slippery material of my compression shorts kept making my Sparkle Athletic skirt slide up to my waist. I like when it's down on my hips, so it covers more of my bum. :-) After about a mile, I rolled my shorts down so the waistband was more on my hips. That helped a lot!

Of course, then the wind kept blowing my skirt up - which seems more revealing and risque when you're wearing skin tight white compression shorts. lol.

It was still a super fun run with lots of smiles and thumbs ups (and yes, a few weird looks) from the people out and about.

This run was powered by the Get Merry RockMyRun mix. Kind of fun running to some random Christmas music.

I was a little disappointed in the lack of Christmas decorations outside on the Strip. I guess you have to go inside the casinos??

Around mile 4, I saw an older couple taking a picture outside the waterfall at the Wynn. I stopped to see if they wanted a picture together.

Totally made me smile stopping to take a quick pic for them.

And then mile 5 (my final mile) was my fastest - 9'31". Wowza!! Thank you, tailwind. :)

It was a wonderful way to start my Christmas Day!

Please kindly disregard my headphones cord.

Hope you all are warm and cozy today and enjoying fun times with family and friends.

Merry Christmas from Enjoying the Course!
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Holiday Drink #3: Cocogo's Mistletoe Punch

OK. This is by far my favorite Holiday Drink using Cocogo!

If you missed the other two recipes, you can find them here and here.

Cocogo's Mistletoe Punch

picture courtesy of Cocogo

Yield: 4 servings

Calories per serving: 110 per serving (non-alcoholic)

Ingredients

• 1 stick pack Lemon Lime Cocogo
• 1 cup Pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup Water or vodka
• 1 Lime, freshly squeezed
• 12 oz Ginger ale
• Lime slices

Directions

1. In a large pitcher, combine first 3 ingredients. Stir until powder is dissolved.
2. Just before serving, add the juice of 1 squeezed lime and add the ginger ale. Give a quick stir and pour over ice in highball glasses.
3. Garnish with a thin slice of lime.

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This drink was very simple to mix up and was delicious. Okay, so I didn't have a lime and used 3 tsp of lemon juice instead. I also went with the vodka option. ;-) This drink wasn't overly sweet or overly sour. It was perfect.

I've never really had pomegranate juice before, and it was delicious. But man, is it ever expensive! I think it might be the most expensive juice I've ever purchased.

Are you a fan of pomegranate juice?

As a Cocogo Ambassador, I have the pleasure of giving you a promo code to enjoy 10% off your order at the Cocogo store. Just enter code ENJOYINGTHECOURSE (code must be in all caps) during checkout. Enjoy!

Holiday Drink #2: Cocogo's Hot Wassail topped with Salted Caramel

Who's already counting down to Christmas? Jeff and I don't really do much to celebrate, but I am enjoying trying out these holiday drinks from Cocogo!

Recipe #2 is perfect for those cold, winter nights. Even if cold is only in the 40s here in Vegas, it's cold enough for me to want to wrap up in a blanket with a hot beverage and watch a movie.

Cocogo's Hot Wassail topped with Salted Caramel

picture courtesy of Cocogo

Yield: 4 servings

Calories per serving: 89 (non-alcoholic)

Ingredients

• 3 stick packs Lemon Lime Cocogo
• 3 stick packs Raspberry Passion Fruit Cocogo
• 1/8 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/8 tsp Ground Allspice
• 2 1/2 cups Water
• 1/2 cup Water or Rum
• 4 sticks Cinnamon Sticks (for garnish)
• 8 Tbsp Whipped Cream
• 4 tsp Salted Caramel Topping

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium saucepan and add water. Stir. 
2. On medium heat, bring to a simmer. Add additional water or rum and stir.
3. Serve in mugs. Garnish each mug with a cinnamon stick. Top with whipped cream and drizzle salted caramel topping over the whipped cream.

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37 years old, and I don't think I've ever actually had a true wassail before, so I was excited to try this recipe out. It says it's traditional with a twist, so I'm not sure how it compares to a traditional wassail. I will tell you it is a little on the sour side. Jeff likes his drinks sweet, so he wasn't a big fan of this.

We tried it without the rum, because all of our rums are flavored, and I wanted to test this as close to the original recipe as possible. Not sure if rum would have cut any of the sour. Hmmm.

The whipped cream and caramel topping were a nice contrast (for me) with the sourness of the actual drink, but I had to finish Jeff's for him. Maybe it was a good thing I left out the rum. LOL.

Have you ever tried wassail?

As a Cocogo Ambassador, I have the pleasure of giving you a promo code to enjoy 10% off your order at the Cocogo store. Just enter code ENJOYINGTHECOURSE (code must be in all caps) during checkout. Enjoy!

Ultimate Coffee Date - December 2014

The last post I wrote before going on blogging hiatus was an Ultimate Coffee Date in Sept, so I was super excited to find out this link-up is still alive!

Coffee with friends can be so much fun, so I'm excited to grab a cup and catch up with all of you!!

If we were having coffee today... I'd have to keep this short and sweet because I'm meeting some friends for a trail run this morning! I haven't hit up a trail in months, so I can't wait. If you're a long time reader, this might shock you because I used to really dislike trail running, but it kinda grew on me this past year after training with George for a half marathon/5K back in May. I'd ask if you prefer trail running or road running.

If we were having coffee today... I'd tell you all about how 2015 is going to focus on speed! I've had breaking a 25-min 5k as a goal for the past 2 years, and right now I'm not sure I could even break a 30-min 5k. I've got a lot of work to do in 2015, which means I'm committing to no marathons in 2015 and lots of speed work and strength training. :-) I'm toying with an idea of hosting some kind of a virtual 5k race series that would last all year long. I'd ask if you were focusing on speed in 2015 and/or if you'd be interested in joining a virtual race series.

If we were having coffee today... I'd tell you how I'm *this* close to 1400 followers on Instagram! How fun would it be to get to 1500 before the New Year?! You can follow me here and I'd ask if you were on IG as well.

If we were having coffee today... I'd tell you how excited/frustrated I am that we are planning on buying a house in 2015. (yes, 2015 is going to be one hell of a year!) I'm excited at the possibility of moving into a place all our own. Our current apartment is getting more and more ghetto. The people who are moving in and the people who are walking around aren't making us feel the safest, so we're definitely excited to get out of our current complex and area of the city. I'm frustrated that it's not happening right now! When you make a huge decision like this, you just want it to happen right away. We're trying to save a little more money and find the perfect (for us!) house. We're probably several months away from actually moving, and I'm sure there will be a lot more frustrations to come, but it's still very exciting. I'd ask about your first time home buying experience.

If we were having coffee today... I'd probably apologize that I haven't mentioned anything about the holidays - shopping, decorating, baking, etc. Truth is over the years I've gotten less and less into the holidays. Jeff really doesn't get into them, and when it's just me, it just doesn't seem as important. Maybe I'll start getting into all the holiday decorating and baking again next year when we're in our own place. I'd probably ask you about any holiday parties you have coming up.

OK I've got to get ready for my trail run! It's been fun sharing with you!! I hope you'll go check out everyone else who stopped by the Ultimate Coffee Date over at Confessions of a Mother Runner today!
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Holiday Drink #1: Cocogo's Cranberry Cocktail

I hope you stocked up on some Cocogo on CyberMonday, because here comes recipe #1 for a delicious holiday drink. :)

Cocogo's Cranberry Cocktail

picture courtesy of Cocogo

Yield: 6 servings

Calories per serving: 66 (non-alcoholic)

Ingredients

• 1 stick pack Lemon Lime Cocogo
• 1 stick pack Grape Cocogo
• 2 cups Cranberry juice cocktail
• 1 cup Grapefruit juice
• 1 cup Water or Vodka

Directions

1. In a large pitcher, combine all ingredients. Stir until powder is dissolved. Pour over ice in cocktail or champagne glasses. As an option, top with champagne and garnish with a thin slice of lime.

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As a Cocogo ambassador, I was asked to try out and share this holiday drink recipe with all of you! It's definitely a winner! Of course I tried it with the vodka option. ;)

If you're not a huge fan of grapefruit juice, then this might not be the drink for you. It's kind of powerful, and makes the drink taste stronger than it really is. :)

Do you have a favorite holiday drink?

If you missed out on CyberMonday, you can always enjoy 10% off your Cocogo order anytime with code ENJOYINGTHECOURSE (code must be in all caps)

It's National High Five Day!

Did you know that TODAY is National High Five Day? Yep. The 3rd Thursday of April, since 2002.

Image taken from their FB page. You can also follow them on Twitter.

So, let's raise our hands today and give everyone we know (and strangers, too) a big ole HIGH FIVE!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just a quick little post to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

I slept in until the very late hour of 5:45 am. I really did try to go back to sleep, but I just couldn't. Boooo.

Jeff and I don't really have much planned for the day. He's still sleeping. I'm hoping to take some time for ME!

And maybe I'll convince Mr. Homebody to go out to dinner on the Strip or somewhere.

What are your Thanksgiving plans? I hope they include some pie!
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Happy Hug-a-Runner Day!

Just a super quick post this morning! Here's a little virtual hug from me to you!


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Happy Halloween!!

I'm veering from my training plan today, and taking a full-on rest day. Truth be told, my left quad has been bothering me for the past few weeks. I tried ignoring it and working through it, but it's not getting any better. I started icing it after my last couple of weeks, but I think it needs a little more rest.

Now, my right shin is tweaking a bit, and I think I bruised my big toe on my right foot. It hurts a LOT. I'm kind of afraid to remove the nail polish.

On top of all that, I've been having some very annoying breathing problems. It's not painful. More uncomfortable. It's nothing really new; it comes and goes. This stint has been going on for about a week or so now, but I do think it's starting to get better. Yay!

So... I think a true rest day is in order!

Enough whining.

It's Halloween!!

No big Halloween plans for us. Other than my hill-o-ween workout, which I did yesterday, I'm going to try to join Runnersluck for #HalloYogaWeen on Instagram. You should join us, too!!

Since I don't really celebrate, I thought I'd answer a few fun questions instead. Last week, Helen from What Happened Next nominated me for a Liebster Award. I was actually nominated last year as well, but these questions from Helen were fun, so here goes.

1. Which country would you choose to live if you had to leave your current home country? The obvious answer would be Belize, since that is where Jeff and I were headed when we ended up in Vegas. But if we could really choose, we'd love to live on an island in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean.
2. What habit would you like to break? I'd love to not throw my clothes on the floor. And just be neater overall.
3. What's the most physically demanding activity you've ever done? Run a marathon. Actually, train for a marathon would be more accurate. :)
4. Would you rather be in trouble with your Boss, your partner or your Mother? I'd rather be trouble with my partner. I think it would be easier to get out of that trouble. If you know what I mean. ;)
5. What's the best vacation you've ever taken? Costa Rica Jan 2011. It was beautiful and a fun adventure. I never blogged about it, but there are some Facebook albums, if you're interested: Arenal Volcano and Nosara.
6. What was the last single-item purchase over $100 you made? Honestly, I have no idea. I have so much difficulty spending money, so I usually leave the bigger purchases to Jeff. :)
7. What's your favourite comfort food? Pizza! Maybe that's not comfort food, but I do love it! And it makes me happy.
8. What intimidates you? Talking on the phone. I hate it. I mean really hate it! Even talking to my parents or my husband. The phone makes me so nervous.
9. What historical event would you most like to witness? This is a really difficult question. There are so many events I'd want to witness. Like a fly on the wall, not actually experiencing them. But all the ones that first came to mind were so heart-wrenchingly sad. I'm not sure I'd even be able to handle being a bystander. All that said, I guess I'd like to see the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids. 
10. If you had a 60-second dash, unlimited shopping spree, which store would you choose to be in?! Ooh! Definitely a clothing store. I think it would be easiest to grab a bunch of stuff in a smaller boutique type store. Maybe NY&C.

Thanks for including me, Helen! That was really fun!!!

Technically, I'm supposed to nominate some blogs for the award, but since I did that last year I have to get ready for work, feel free to consider yourself nominated! You can answer these 10 questions from Helen or share 10 random things about yourself.

What are your plans for Halloween?
Am I the only one who doesn't get into it?
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Happy Thanksgiving!!

I probably should have written this yesterday, as many of you are likely very busy with Thanksgiving festivities today. Still, I wanted to take a moment to wish each one of you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

May you all enjoy great food, loving families, and fun times.

To all my running readers, good luck at your races today!
To all my non-running readers, I invite you to get outside today.

A couple years ago, I convinced my family to take a few minutes and go for a Thanksgiving Day walk together. It was supposed to be a time for us to share things we were grateful for, but it turned out to be just a time filled with fun and laughter. It was a relatively nice day in MN, and it is a memory I will always cherish.

Today, I am far away from family, so I suggested to Jeff that we spend the day outside enjoying the beautiful fall day in Vegas on our bikes. We haven't yet decided on a specific route or trail, but we're hoping to get in around a 30 mile bike ride.

Whether you're running or biking or walking, I encourage you to use CharityMiles while you do it. If you don't already have the app, it's a free download for your iPhone or Android. Today through next Tuesday (#GivingTuesday), they are doubling the amount of money you can earn for your charity, which means walkers and runners earn 50¢ per mile; bikers earn 20¢ per mile.

There are a 13 different charities to choose from. I've listed them here with a link to their Twitter account.

Stand Up to Cancer

Feeding America

Every Mother Counts

Autism Speaks

Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

World Food Programme

Wounded Warrior Project

ASPCA

The Nature Conservancy

Habitat for Humanity

Pencils of Promise

Achilles International

The Global Fund

Of course, you can do choose any charity, but since it's Thanksgiving here in America, it seems fitting to support Feeding America today. Every mile for them feeds four people. So, if you do a simple 5k, you'd feed 12 people. 5 miles feeds 20 people! And, as always, the easiest way to double your impact is to get just one person to join you. So, please help me to spread the word.

And, once again,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!

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I am in no way affiliated with CharityMiles in anyway other than as a devoted user. I think it is a great app, and it helps me find even more purpose and have more fun while running, walking, or biking outside.

Healthy Halloween Tips

It's time for Monday Listicles. Today, I'm going to break the rules a little. Our topic was to be Halloween costumes, but since I don't plan on dressing up nor do I have kids who would want to dress up, I thought I'd share some tips on how to make Halloween a bit healthier than the normal candy-filled chaos.

1. Give out alternatives to candy. How about juice boxes, glow sticks, play dough, fruit snacks, etc?

2. If you do want to give out candy, wait until the last minute to buy it. That way it won't be tempting you while it sits. Also, buy the candy that you don't like. Even easier to resist. :-)

3. Instead of a candy dish at the office, why not a dish filled with roasted pumpkin seeds or almonds or celery sticks?

4. If you're hosting a party, make healthy creations.

Like a veggie skeleton.

Source: Taste of Home

Or Apple Bites.

Source: familyfun.go.com

Or Eyeball Caprese.

Source: divinedinnerparty.com

5. If you usually stay at home to hand out candy, how about grabbing a water bottle and go for a walk around the neighborhood instead?

6. Maybe not on Halloween, but there are a lot of fun ways to celebrate the season. Haunted houses, corn mazes, or pumpkin patches.

7. Serve food inside other food.

Like apple cider in an apple vessel.

Source: imgfave.com

Or a stew in a pumpkin.

Source: allrecipes.co.uk

Or maybe some oatmeal for breakfast.

Source: healthfulpursuit.com

8. Host a scavenger hunt or play a different Halloween game.

9. Let your kids trade in their Halloween candy for cash or a new toy. Let them enjoy some candy Halloween night and maybe let them choose a few of their favorite pieces for later.

10. Donate extra candy to a food bank or talk to your dentist about participating in the Halloween Candy BuyBack Program for an easy way to ship your extra candy to troops overseas.
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Now, head over to Stasha's to see what costumes might be fun to go with these healthy celebration tips. And if you're interested in seeing a few of my past Halloween costumes, you can read this post.

Happy Father's Day!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Father's Day!

Don't be confused if this post just popped into your RSS reader or on FB or in an email. I *really* did think I published it on Sunday night but just noticed Tuesday night that it wasn't there. I freaked out! I haven't missed one day in my 30 day challenge...or so I thought! ARGH! So, I've post dated this to say it published late Sunday night (when I thought it had published). Take that Blogger and Blogger app on my phone!!

Memories of Halloween

Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I used to love to dress up!

I've been challenged by the wonderful ladies over at The Secret is in the Sauce (SITS) to write a post about my favorite Halloween memory. I couldn't decide on just one.

First up, flashback to 1990, 8th grade. I dressed as a banshee.

Halloween was so fun that year!

My costume was great!

My make-up was scary.

(It would've been better if I'd been able to take a pic

with a more stoic expression. Oh well.)

It took a lot of time and effort to tease my hair just right. I vaguely remember my sister spending some time on the bus ride to school teasing and teasing and teasing it some more.

The best part of that Halloween, though, was trick-or-treating. You might say that 8th grade is too old to go out trick-or-treating, but it was absolutely fun! I went with a group of friends from school, and we walked around their neighborhood.

I remember a lot of laughter and fun!

I also remember how I refused to wear my glasses (I hadn't discovered the wonders of contacts yet) because they would've ruined my make-up. I don't know how I was able to do that, but I do recall a near run-in with a tree branch!

Next up: 1999.

My boyfriend at the time and I dressed up as Neo and Trinity from The Matrix. 

I don't really recall any particularly exciting thing happen that year. I just love how great our costumes turned out.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Hope it's safe and fabulous.

This post was written as an entry for a contest to win a Canon Rebel T2i camera. Hop on over to SITS for great blogging tips and more awesome Halloween memories. 

Flashback Friday: 1996 - Memorial Day

We were so suprised to see snow still on the ground in the middle of May! We had to play!

Memorial Day weekend, 1996

I went up north to Duluth (and beyond) with some friends for the weekend. It was so much fun. We got lost a few times. Angie got to drive her dad's brand new car. We visited Gooseberry Falls and the Splitrock Lighthouse (which apparently turns 100 this year, or so I read on a bus billboard recently). We laughed. a. lot.

Click here to see a few more pictures from this weekend. Mostly, the pix are of waterfalls. Waterfalls are probably one of my favorite things to see in nature.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone!

Halloweens past

I got a little carried away when looking for old Halloween photos. These are the ones I found--spanning my entire life (practically).

2 yrs old (1979) Raggedy Ann

I don't have any kids yet, so I'm forced to show off pics of me as a little girl.

6th grade (1988) Gypsy

At one point in our lives, my mom, my older sister and I all wore this outfit.
8th Grade (1990) Banshee

I went trick or treating this year, and nearly lost an eye to a tree branch because I refused to wear my glasses (it would've ruined the effect of the make-up). I was only a few inches from the branch before it came into focus.

1999 Trinity (from the Matrix)
This is probably my favorite Halloween costume, so I put up a few pics from that year.


2000 Vampire