Nothing, really.

When I arrive home and Steven has a warm dinner on the stove, ready for me to eat, I feel like a pampered princess.

Do you like it when someone else cooks for you? Whose cooking is your favorite? Or do you prefer to make your own food?

Last night, Steven made a modified (because we were missing a few ingredients) version of Anna’s (newlywednewlyveg) Black Bean Fiesta Soup.

Here are the original ingredients, crossed out with what we substituted. Check out her site for the full recipe! I hope you don’t mind that we changed it up a bit, Anna!

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 3 clove(s) garlic, chopped
  
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 1/2 T. Dried Red Pepper, 1 1/2 T. Dried Green Pepper
  
• 1 4. oz. can green chilies, chopped 1 1/2 Tsp Dried Jalapeño
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder 1/4 tsp. Ancho Chili Powder and 1/4 tsp. Chipotle Chili Powder
  
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. lime zest
• juice of one lime 1 Tsp. Lime Juice
  
• 3 2 15. oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• ADDED: 1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 3 cups 2 cans vegetable broth
  
• 1 15 oz. can corn
• ADDED: 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
  

Also, our favorite cornbread made a guest appearance. It went deliciously with this soup! I recommend trying the soup (either the original or our version). It was so tasty – perfect for a cold evening, and not too spicy!

Crap. I better be careful. I don’t want to turn into a food blogger. Stop making such tasty eats Steven! (no really, please don’t stop)

Time for another meme! Ayla (dainty vegan), Leah (why deprive), Kim (Adventures in Wanting) and Trayn Harder all gave me the Happy 101 award. Thank you! I am supposed to list 10 things that make me happy. Making this list was fun (I could have kept going past 10). I think I could do this everyday! Give it a try! Click “more” to read on.

Well, obviously, friends and family make me happy above all else (that includes all of you, my blogger friends!). So I am not going to list them. Ha!

10 Things That Make Me Happy:

1. Arriving home to Steven making dinner
2. Getting the new issue of Runner’s World in the mail
3. Taking silly photos
4. Receiving an email from a friend
5. My blog-reading time on the train
6. Being healthy enough to exercise
7. Making ridiculous jokes with people
8. Having every other Friday off
9. Snorgling Data
10. Having regular poos

There was an interesting (although VERY confusing) article on the Well blog covering this topic yesterday.  The article stemmed from a study done in Scotland that concluded you only need 20 minutes of exercise a week to increase your contentment. Okay, but how much do you need to be healthy?

That’s more difficult to define. The article went into a discussion about “MET” minutes, which are “Metabolic Equivalent of Task” minutes. Huh? Apparently  you need 500 of those as week, and they vary based on what you are doing for exercise and how intense it is. For example, running at 6 mph is a 10-MET activity. So if you run for 60 minutes, that is 600 MET minutes. So, you’re done for the week then? Confusing…

Has anyone heard of this MET mumbo-jumbo before? How do you decide how much to exercise a week? Do you have any exercise goals for 2010?

I aim for at least 30 minutes a day, but usually go by how I feel. If I am in the groove, I will keep going! If I feel like crap, I won’t work out at all.

A few other interesting points from the article (repetitive, but interesting):

According to the Physical Activity Guidelines report, “It has been estimated that people who are physically active for approximately seven hours a week have a 40 percent lower risk of dying early than those who are active for less than 30 minutes a week.”

Interestingly, they did not find that exercise beyond a certain point conferred significant additional health benefits. Instead, the “dose response” for exercise, the committee found, is “curvilinear.” In other words, people who are the least active to start with get the most health benefit from starting to exercise. People who already are fit don’t necessarily get a big additional health benefit from adding more workout time to their regimens.

You do not necessarily have to divide your exercise time into daily allotments, either. Existing “scientific evidence does not allow researchers to say, for example, whether the health benefits of 30 minutes on five days a week are any different from the health benefits of 50 minutes on three days a week,” according to the activity guidelines. Do what suits your schedule.

Meme time! Leah, Gelareh and Holly have all tagged me for the “7 Random Things About Me” meme. Thanks, ladies! Click “more” to read on…

And of course, Happy New Years Eve! Enjoy your evening and be safe!

It was hard to come up with 7 random facts that I felt people wouldn’t know/weren’t a repeat of my “100 Things.” Anyway, I tried! I am sure as soon as I hit publish I will come up with 7 better things. (And yeah, should I have actually posted 21 things since I was tagged three times?)

1. Instead of dropping my maiden name when I got married, I changed my middle name to my maiden name – from “Marie” to “Ilax.” Changing my name was not something I wanted to do and I waited for over a year to do it.
2. I lived in Rome from January – August of 2006. You can read all about it in my old archives. I was in school until the end of April, then worked for the architect Massimiliano Fuksas (for free!) until August. I worked in “Sala Plastici” – that’s Italian for the Model Shop!



Me + Random Gatto at Colosseum

3. My first three cars were Oldsmobiles (a 1979 Delta 88, a 1985 98 Regency, and a 1988 88 Brougham). The first one was totaled when a semi failed to stop at the end of an off ramp and squished my car in half (thank heavens he hit the END of my car and not the front!). The company that owned the semi gave us the second car. It didn’t run as well as the first. So my dad bought me the third one from his Aunt. And I held on to it until last April. My sister drives it now.



Bye bye last Oldsmobile


4. I’ve been a vegetarian for 9 years tomorrow. YES, I am lame and became a vegetarian on January 1st, 2001. My fourth post on my blog was about why I became vegetarian (scroll down to 7/25/05).
5. I had an embarrassing rebellious phase when I was a sophomore in high school. Think staying out WAY past curfew, cutting class, dying my hair strange colors… and much more. Yeah. It was embarrassing. I pretty much cut it out when my older friends went to college the following fall. And I still graduated class valedictorian. I got rid of all of my journals from that time in my life, but there are some stories and opinions I would love to share someday.
6. I don’t follow television or sports. I do watch movies though!
7. I work for the federal government and I love my job. Bet you didn’t see that one coming!

I am not going to tag anyone (supposed to tag 7) but please do the meme if you’d like!

One more thing: Check out Brie’s RoadID Giveaway! I actually asked for a RoadID for Christmas, but didn’t get one, so I should probably buy one. I’ve just been using a dog tag!

To accept this award, I have to answer the following questions* with one word answers, and pass the award on to six others. I usually don’t pass awards, but I thought it would be fun to read the following six people answers (if I read your blog and comment, I have always thought it’s over the top in its awesomeness!). Please grab the meme if you want!

Tori, Diane, Erin, Hotch Potchery, Andrew**, Etta

1. Where is your cell phone? counter
2. Your hair? unruly
3. Your mother? optimistic
4. Your father? supportive
5. Your favorite food? sweets
6. Your dream last night? realistic
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? health
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? blogging…
11. Your fear? gain
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? promoted
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren’t? proper
15. Muffins? vegan
16. Wish list item? practical
17. Where did you grow up? evansdale
18. Last thing you did? blog
19. What are you wearing? warm
20. Your TV? boring
21. Your pets? entertaining
22. Your friends? few
23. Your life? varying
24. Your mood? good
25. Missing someone? always
26. Vehicle? perfect
27. Something you’re not wearing? earrings
28. Your favorite store? NY&Company
29. Your favorite color? orange
30. When was the last time you laughed? recently!
31. Last time you cried? hmm?
32. Your best friend? Steven
33. One place that I go over and over? work
34. One person who emails me regularly? Gina/Courtney***
35. Favorite place to eat? home-cooked

*These answers are from Sunday night
**Something besides quotes PLEASE, Andrew
***Tie, because we email as a group

1. I’ve come to realize that my chest-size. . .
is directly correlated to my weight – the smaller I get, the smaller they get.

2. I’ve come to realize that my job. . .
is extremely secure, and that’s important right now.

3. I’ve come to realize that when I’m driving. . .
I am my most impatient.

4. I’ve come to realize that I need. . .
to learn how to relax.

5. I’ve come that realize that I have lost. . .
my connection with mainstream society (implying I ever had one).

6. I’ve come to realize that I hate it when. . .
people tell me what to do.

7. I’ve come to realize that if I’m drunk. . .
uh… I am never drunk. I rarely drink.

8. I’ve come to realize that money…
shouldn’t define who you are, but a lot of people let it.

9. I’ve come to realize that certain people. . .
will never change, so it’s best I ignore them.

10. I’ve come to realize that I’ll always. . .
be a little bit impatient, no matter how hard I try not to be.

11. I’ve come to realize that my sibling(s). . .
are nothing like me.

12. I’ve come to realize that my mom…
is an extreme worrier when it comes to her schoolwork/grades.

13. I’ve come to realize that my cell phone. . .
is good enough for me.

14. I’ve come to realize that when I woke up this morning. . .
I still felt frustrated.

15. I’ve come to realize that last night before I went to sleep. . .
Steven was talking to me about something and I feel asleep. Oops.

16. I’ve come to realize that right now I am thinking. . .
is it time to go home yet?

17. I’ve come to realize that my dad. . .
is one of the most supportive  and non-judgmental people in my life.

18. I’ve come to realize that when I get on Facebook. . .
I get frustrated when I have lots of messages in my inbox. I still like email.

19. I’ve come to realize that today. . .
is going to be better than yesterday. I am not sure how…

20. I’ve come to realize that tonight. . .
I have to run those 6 miles I put off yesterday to sulk and cry on the couch.

21. I’ve come to realize that tomorrow. . .
I will be the only one in the office on my team.

22. I’ve come to realize that I really want to. . .
take a day off to myself to catch up on sleep.

23. I’ve come to realize that the person mostly likely to repost this is. . .
not sure about this one!

24. I’ve come to realize that life. . .
is about journeys, not destinations.

25. I’ve come to realize that this weekend. . .
met my expectations. More or less.

26. I’ve realized the best music to listen to when I am upset. . .
something upbeat to snap me out of it.

27. I’ve come to realize that my friends. . .
are not always who I think they are.

28. I’ve come to realize that this year. . .
I’ve made huge progress in my health.

29. I’ve come to realize that my exes. . .
deserve happiness.

30. I’ve come to realize that maybe I should. . .
be more cautious of what I say.

31. I’ve come to realize that I love. . .
laying in the sun doing nothing.

32. I’ve come to realize that I don’t understand. . .
many people’s interests, but I try to.

33. I’ve come to realize my past. . .
is somewhat irrelevant.

34. I’ve come to realize that parties. . .
are not for me.

35. I’ve come to realize that I’m totally terrified. . .
of being injured.

36. I’ve come to realize that my life. . .
is completely in my control.

I have to be honest. I usually skim memes. Or just mark them as read. So if you do the same for me, I understand.

Although, this one was interesting to fill out, because I really had to think hard about what to put on these lists! And I am sure as the day goes on, I will think of even more things to add.

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. The Kenosha Half Marathon this Saturday!
2. Seeing my parents this weekend.
3. Going to SELF’s Workout in the Park with Diane on 5/16.
4. Spending time on the Mississippi River this summer.
5. Going to Disney World in January.
6. Doing the 30 Day Shred for 30 consecutive days (starting 5/1) and getting shredded!
7. Trying a vegan diet.
8. Seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Trek, Angels & Demons, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Terminator Salvation this summer.

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Got caught up at work!!!
2. Blogged. Read blogs. Added new blogs to my reader. Felt guilty for being addicted to blogging.
3. Talked to my coworker about doing a sprint triathlon.
4. Listened to Jillian Michaels’s podcast.
5. Ran 4 miles with Steven.
6. Ate homemade Mexican Food for dinner.
7. Got sick and spent a lot of time on the toilet.
8. Started watching Lady in the Water and wondered, “Is this lame movie going anywhere?!?!”

8 Things I wish I could will do*:

1. Run a marathon in 2009.
2. Finish logging in my IDP** credits.
3. Learn how to style my hair.
4. Work harder at communication with Steven.
5. Experiment more in the kitchen.
6. Try yoga. Try slowing down.
7. Maintain my weight loss.
8. Get more sleep!

8 Shows I watch:

1. I don’t watch television, but I do own all 6 seasons of Sex and the City.

Play along if you want!

*Modified that one a bit!
**It’s an architecture thing.

1. Take a pic of yourself right now.
2. No primping or preparing.
3. Just snap a picture.
4. Load the picture onto your blog.
5. Tag some people to play along. I don’t tag, but participate if you want!

This is me, when I woke up at 5:00 am, sans makeup! (See how wavy my hair is, Denise?!)

Of course, Data saw that I was snapping pics with my phone and wanted to get in on the action. I think he cheated though – he was definitely licking himself before he jumped into the photo!

See how tired I look? I look this tired ALL DAY LONG. Even though I put on makeup, try to get enough sleep and drink lots of water… I always look tired. Even when I don’t feel tired.

And… more blabbing – I love Jillian Michaels’s* podcasts. I often feel like she is speaking directly to me, about something I am personally struggling with. Already, I have been able to apply something I listened to last night to a situation this morning. More below…

Last night, after my “I hate who I am becoming” post, I listened to her 3/22 podcast, in which she talked about control (in relation to staying healthy in this economy):

When you’re feeling out of control, the one thing that you CAN control is your body. You can control what you eat, and how you take care of yourself, how much sleep you get, how much relaxation you allow, whether you do your deep breathing/meditation/yoga… this is something that you CAN control when you’re feeling out of control. That is so important – to feel like something is in your realm of control.You can control how you react to a less than great situation.

There are a few things I want to say about this.

First, WOW. That is REALLY what I needed to hear after how I was feeling yesterday.

Secondly, I have a reoccurring meeting every Tuesday at 8:00, so I have to be to my office by 7:30. When I got on the train this morning, they announced that my train was only going two stops (out of 16!), then we would have to get out and walk (in the rain) to transfer to another train line. Apparently, a semi crashed on the highway and caused big pieces of cement to fall onto the train tracks for the train I take, so they were closing it down for awhile.

I started to feel stressed and a bit pissed off, because I wouldn’t get to work on time, and I had to walk in the rain (again). But… it was something that was out of my control! So I just focused on making the best of the situation. Right now, I am sitting on that other train, traveling into the city… it’s really no big deal. Why do I usually let things like that get to me so much?

And the third thing I wanted to say: quite a few months ago (in a 10/28/08 draft that I never posted!), I made the realization of how important being in control is to me. I figured out that I overeat so much when I visit home because things are out of my control – namely my schedule. I am someone who likes to follow a schedule and avoid the unknown (food-wise). When you are with a lot of people, it is extremely difficult to organize a meal (or even an activity). I end up getting frustrated, and just say “forget it.” I just throw in the towel, and give up.

I think I do that in non-food situations too. Not all the time, but sometimes, when I feel like things are out of my control, I just get frustrated with it, and let my wild emotions roll out. Instead of reacting calmly, I let my emotions get the best of me. I totally wear my heart on my sleeve. And something else I have noticed lately is that I let other people’s personal drama (emotions) affect mine, which makes it even worse. When someone approaches me, all panicked and freaked out about something, I start to internalize a bit of that and it turns into stress.

So… I am going to focus on what I can control. My eating, my emotions, my reactions… I am going to focus on thinking about how to react to things, rather than just rushing through things.

*Is this how you use an apostrophe when a last name ends in an “s”?

The rules:
1. Post a banner on your blog and declare February 13th/14th as the day you not only love your one and only, but the day that you love yourself!
2. Post one nice thing about yourself……then ask others to post one thing that they really like about you.
3. Enjoy yourself!

It’s kind of weird to come up with a nice thing about myself, then ask you all to say something nice about me. So, if you did last year, you’re off the hook! Unless you’re family, then you have to say something! Ha.

So, I love my one and only, Mr. Steven-0, and of course, Sir Data-Lor, but I also love my family and all friends. Life is all about relationships, and having fun. I am lucky to have so many people to love.

Which brings me to what I love about me – I’m easy-going, approachable, and love to have a good time (with family and friends, as well as coworkers and other acquaintances, when appropriate). Okay, at least, that is how I see myself 90% of the time. Life’s too short to waste by being a negative, judgmental, pessimistic snob. I work hard to have an upbeat attitude. I try not to let things phase me, even though I sometimes can’t help it. The point is, I am conscious of my attitude, and realize that having a good one, as well as a positive outlook, is going to make me happier in general.

So… I like that I figured that out. And I like that it has allowed me to have a lot of fun this past year.

Yeah. Did that make any sense whatsoever?!

I can’t wait to read all of your self-love declarations! And leave my comments about what I love about YOU! It is going to take me awhile to get to them, since I am in Denver all weekend, but I’ll get there!

Oops, I just realized I used the wrong banner! I’ll have to fix that later!

I am to find and post the 6th photo on the 6th page (folder?) of my computer and my photo/host sharing site. I don’t actually use flickr (or similar) though, I so I can only grab something off of my computer.

The photo is of me and my father at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Chicagoland Speedway (I actually wrote about it on 10/20/07 at my old blog). My siblings and I gave my dad a gift card to ride three laps at full speed on a racetrack for his birthday. I think he enjoyed it. I think I would have too. I seem to be one of those adrenaline-seeking people.

1. I don’t know any of my immediate neighbors.
2. I’m overweight.
3. I sing along to the music when I am driving the car.
4. I love jewelry.
5. I like to take long, hot bubble baths.
6. I don’t follow the “wash instructions” on my clothing.

The college is internationally known, and has a very prestigious reputation. It draws students in from all over the world.

It was very interesting to be on the other side of the table during this career fair. It was only last year that I was interviewing as well!

The students were very aggressive in promoting themselves. I’ve already received quite a few follow up emails.

Part of one email made me laugh out loud in my office for a good twenty seconds:

If you are not hiring any internship recently, could we still keep touching?

Yes, I know what the person meant, and I don’t mean to make fun of them… but I thought I would share!

I’ve been tagged! Follow the extended post for the Fluff Five Meme from Lumpy.

5 Things You Found In Your Bag

1. Diarrhea medicine from Aruba
2. Day Planner
3. Travel size deodorant (I admit, I sweat)
4. Bottle of Ice Mountain
5. Last month’s pay stub

5 Favorite Things In Your Room

1. My HUGE wooden jewelry chest
2. Darth Tater and Spud Trooper
3. My own walk-in closet
4. Car keys…
5. Husband and Kitteh

5 Things You Are Currently Into

1. Bowling
2. Improving my vocabulary
3. Community Involvement
4. Home Improvement
5. Adding new bloggers to my reader

5 Things You Have Always Wanted To Do

1. Skydive
2. Ride in a hot air balloon
3. Run a marathon
4. Become a licensed architect
5. Fly an airplane

5 People You Want To Tag

1. Steven
2. Dad
3. Christina
4. Andrew
5. Jodi