Love and Meatballs
Posted: February 14, 2014 Filed under: Confessions, Food, Fun, Holidays, Marriage, Ridiculousness | Tags: Love, marriage, meatballs, pizza, romance, Valentine, valentines day Leave a commentHi friends!
I don’t know about you, but I am getting sick of this snow! Getting to work was a bit rough this morning (luckily Farmer Ben drove me).
Life has been crazy and I’ve been a bad blogger-my apologies!
In other news, Happy Valentine’s Day!
Doing anything special? We don’t normally do much, but I couldn’t resist doing something cheesy….So, I sent the hubby a meatball pizza at work….meatballs in a heart shape.
He loved it! I’m so glad, because he’s pretty great… and he got to share the love with his coworkers!
That’s all for today… Have a great weekend!
Best Valentine you’ve given? Received?!
Five on Friday
Posted: January 24, 2014 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Beliefs, Confessions, Fun, Life, Random, Ridiculousness | Tags: Bible, confessions, five facts, God, hair style, lake champlain chocolates, race planning, Strides for James 2 CommentsI cannot tell you how ecstatic I am that today is Friday…. even though I got suckered into working at job number 2 tomorrow night with the dreaded stairs (my calves are going to be ten times bigger than they already are in a couple of weeks!). This week took a lot out of me and I so looking forward to sleeping past 7:00 am. Isn’t that such a glorious feeling?
Anyway, here are five random facts for your reading pleasure:
1. Strides for James is taking over my life… and I am kind of okay with that… I’ve mentioned it before, but this is something very close to my heart and it’s a great way to give back to the community. I’m also super excited because we are getting a post-race chocolate milk donation. For the win!!!
2.I’m wondering if there is any topic that you’d like to see more of/featured more in-depth on Noelle’s Notebook… I have this slightly-larger-than-the-blog project (idea) that I’m kicking around…but I want to know that it’ll be something people are interested in. So, any input is totally welcome! Help a girl out!
2a. To go along with said project, I want to do an “ask me anything” post/series (depending on how many questions I get).
So, if you could do me a huge favor and asking me ANY of your burning questions in the comments below, I’d be forever grateful, and will be answering all questions next week. Many thanks!
3. I am STILL doing my planks and push-ups every day… I think this is the longest/most consistent I’ve ever been with sticking to one of these challenges. It makes me feel so accomplished and I can see a little more definition!
4. I don’t remember what it’s like to have long hair. In related news, I recently had a co-worker tell me he doesn’t remember me with long hair either (who has worked with me for the last 3+ years)… so I dug up this photo….
June 2012
To compare:
December 2013
Weird. Weird. Weird. Long or short?
5. Current Guilty Pleasure: Rum Caramel Chocolate bar from Lake Champlain chocolates… our co-op always stocks Lake Champlain chocolate but they never seem to have this kind. I hit the jackpot the other day while shopping for my foodie penpal… I sent her one and took one home to share with Farmer Ben…and I’ll probably be going back to check and see if they have more. Pricey but so worth it.
6. Bonus Fact. I got an email from a friend today with this verse and I just had to share it with you all…food for thought:
“…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” -Luke 12:48, NIV
Now it’s your turn: Current guilty pleasures? Long hair or short?
Don’t forget to ask me anything!
Confessions; Life, Lately
Posted: January 13, 2014 Filed under: Confessions, Health and Wellness, Life, Ridiculousness | Tags: challenges, confessions, exercise, Farmer Ben, fitness, GBN, Gross But Necessary, health, health and wellness, healthy-living, life, motivation, random, Strides for James 6 CommentsI haven’t done one of these posts in a while…so here we go…
-Friday, I applied to be a part of the “fit team” for a company that I adore… with my cell phone. I could NOT get the link to work on my computer so I finally resorted to using my phone… Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?! I really hope I didn’t make any fat-finger typos…and I really hope they pick me!!!! I’m 90% sure that they won’t… but there’s always that 10% chance…keep your fingers crossed!
– You may or may not know that I haven’t been on Facebook in a long time. In all honesty, I don’t miss it (other than it seems to be the only way some people keep in touch), however, as much as I hate to admit it, as I am trying to grow/improve the blog… I may have to reactivate it sooner rather than later… any thoughts on this? I’d love some opinions from other bloggers.
-I really miss just hanging out with my best. I haven’t seen her face in far too long and it really stinks…we keep in touch, don’t get me wrong, but it would be nice to hang out in person and not through phone or internet.
-Speaking of social media, Twitter completely overwhelms me sometimes. That is all.
-The #WinterMiles Challenge? I ran a total of 20.25 miles for week 1 (that includes an unscheduled rest day to deal with the head cold from hell). I am pretty proud of myself because getting up the gumption to run in the cold is really difficult for me…some nights, I’ll sit in my car for 20 minutes before I finally talk myself into getting out and actually doing the run!
-Speaking of running, we have our first two registered runners for Strides for James! I am so excited! Once again, if you’re looking to visit Upstate NY…or live here, sign up! It’s going to be a great race! Not to mention, we have some amazing swag!
-I told a white lie the other day, Farmer Ben and I never made it to the gym the other night… by the time he got home the other day, we wouldn’t have made it before they closed…but we did get out and run on a crazy windy night… this weekend, I took advantage of the ridiculously warm weather… maybe this week. I’m dying to check it out!
-I was really happy to get some positive feedback on this post. In case you missed it, here it is again:
-I probably forgot to mention this, but Farmer Ben and I are doing the core and more challenge from Lifting Revolution. Basically, you commit to doing a plank, followed by some push-ups every day for the month of January. I am happy to report that I haven’t missed a day yet…. this never happens!
-Yesterday, Farmer Ben forced me to go to Burlington with him for a mini-date day…which meant that I had to do a night run. I don’t regret it one bit.
-I haven’t been working at job number 2 much lately… really not at all for the last month or so (except New Year’s Eve). Anyway, I got called in to work Friday and Saturday night at the new location. This location has an upstairs…. my calves are ridiculously sore from running up and down the stairs carrying trays of food and drink…can we call this cross-training?
-I saw a post on Instagram the other day that really ticked me off. It was one of those “inspirational” quotes that people take time to fancy up and make pretty. It said something along the lines of “It’s easier to get up early and workout than it is to look in the mirror every day and not like what you see.”
Ugh!!! Why is it that the only reason a person needs to work out is if they don’t like their appearance? Okay, I get it…sometimes we need to lose a little weight or tone up and it’s easy to get stuck on that, but seriously?! Chances are if you hate the way you look that much, working out at 5:00 am is NOT going to change that. Why can’t someone work out because they like to? AND why is it that in order to be considered an athlete, you have to wake up at some ungodly hour in order to “get your sweat on?!” I’m sorry, but I do the majority of my workouts in the evening…and I’ve always been that way. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with getting up early, and I truly envy those who have the discipline to do so… but I am NOT one of those people …and I still like myself… and I don’t workout because I hate what I see in the mirror…I workout because I like the way it makes me feel …End rant.
Your Turn: What’s going on in your life? Any juicy confessions I need to know about? “Fit-spirational” quotes, yes or no?
In Case You’re Interested; BlogLovin’ & WinterMiles
Posted: January 7, 2014 Filed under: Confessions, Health and Wellness, Ridiculousness | Tags: bloglovin, challenge, fitness center, health and wellness, winter miles 4 CommentsHappy Tuesday!
I thought I’d just fill you in on a couple of fun tidbits for today… here we go!
In case you’re interested, I recently added Noelle’s Notebook to BlogLovin. You can find it here. Not sure what BlogLovin is? Basically it’s one place to read all of your favorite blogs, a nice organized little feed if you will.You can sort them by type of blog, find new blogs based on those currently in your feed and sort new posts by individual blog or group…which is helpful if you follow a ton of different sites, like me. Anyway, I’d love if you gave a follow!
Not gonna lie, I just started using it yesterday and am already hooked! After adding a lot of my regular reads to the feed, I’m a little overwhelmed… I didn’t realize I followed that many different sites, and I have a few to add!
Also, if you follow me by email and got a post called “bloglovin’,” I’m sorry…that was a test. Not gonna lie, Noelle is not the most tech-savvy person out there.
In other news, yesterday, I started the #wintermiles challenge with Run with Jess. Find more info here (P.S. It’s not too late to join!). I’m excited to do this because I really need motivation to get out and run in the winter time. I’m aiming for 20 miles a week…which seems ambitious right now but it IS a challenge after all…
One thing that is definitely going to help me do this? A free gym! Yes, that’s right.
Yesterday, I talked about running on a budget. So you know that paying a gym membership is not in the cards right now ($70 a month? No thanks) and…I’m always looking for a bargain.
Anyway, I recently discovered that the local high school (two miles down the road from our house) allows district residents to use the fitness center for free… how awesome is that?! The best part? An indoor track! This will make it a lot easier to run in the cold weather…especially when the temperature dips below zero.
The only drawback is that the hours are limited, but they seem to be compatible with my schedule for now. Farmer Ben and I are going to check it out tonight… I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!
That’s all for today, thanks for reading my randomness!
Let’s chat! Any Winter Challenges or running goals for the coming months? Do you use bloglovin’? Or a different feed/reader? Free gyms…yes or no?
Would you Rather Running Style Survey
Posted: January 2, 2014 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions, Fun, Ridiculousness | Tags: confessions, fitness, Gross But Necessary, marathon training, Ragnar Relay, running, survey, would you rather.. 4 CommentsHi friends! Happy 2014!
How did you celebrate?
I spent New Year’s Eve working both jobs and spent yesterday (mostly) in bed, trying to kick this nasty head cold… today, I am back at work, drinking Kombucha and a fruit smoothie, in hopes that I’ll be back to normal in the next day or so…
Anyway, Cori over at Olive to Run posted another one of her awesome “Would you rather…” running surveys and I had to join in! Check out her post to see more responses or join the link-up party!
Let’s get started!
#1. Would you rather run in a thunderstorm or a snowstorm? I’d say thunderstorm…there’s something so freeing about running in the rain and I feel like a bad-ass… not that I mind snow… but rain is better.
#2. Would you rather breathe through your nose or breathe through your mouth? I do both, depending on the day…. today, I’m a mouth breather…. yuck.
#3. Would you rather do 100 squats or 100 crunches? [Now take a break and go do them. ;)] I’m going to go with 100 crunches.
#4. Would you rather have a baked good for dessert or an extra serving of your favorite entree? Extra serving of my favorite entrée…. unless it’s really good chocolate cake (and I am picky about my chocolate cake).
#5. Would you rather run on a treadmill for an hour or run around the same street block for an hour? I’d pick running around the same street block…I HATE the treadmill.
#6. Would you rather have a headache during a run or a side stitch? Headache….I think.
#7. Would you rather have a rest day on a work day or a day off? I’d say probably a day off…but I normally end up doing my rest days on a work day…. weird.
#8. Would you rather be a race director or a race volunteer? I’ve done both… I love being a race director and am currently in the process of planning Strides for James 2014. It’s so rewarding and I love getting to meet/keep in touch with so many people in the community–both runners and volunteers!
Last Year’s Race Prep…
#9. Would you rather spend your money on running gadgets [HRM, GPS watch, Headphones] or running shoes? Running shoes… I’m not a huge gadget person.
#10. Would you rather run in a relay or do the run portion of a distance triathlon? Run a relay…Ragnar Relay, anyone?!
ADK Ragnar Relay 2012
What about you?! How would you answer these questions? What’s your best “would you rather…” question?
Confessions: Daylight Savings Edition
Posted: November 11, 2013 Filed under: Beliefs, Confessions, Food, Fun, Health and Wellness, Life, Local Food, Marriage, Random, Ridiculousness | Tags: confessions, Daylight Savings, exercise, Farmer Ben, Food, gardening, health, health and wellness, life, marriage, motivation, race, random, relationships, running, training 2 CommentsHi Friends!
Can we talk about how foolish I was when I believed that life would slow down after the marathon? Yeah, call me crazy. Regardless, life’s been pretty good lately. Also, confession: I started writing this post last week…and am just now publishing…fail.
Prepare yourselves, this is going to be RANDOM!
As you know, I am officially 26 as of a couple of weeks ago. It doesn’t feel much different than 25, other than I didn’t have a birthday meltdown. I’ll call it a win! How did I celebrate? A margarita and nachos with girlfriends, of course! On my actual birthday, I woke up to a delicious breakfast of filet mignon, homemade hash browns and a fried egg. Perfection.
My excuse for being absent? I’ve been insanely busy at work and in spite of some major technology/communication issues, extremely productive. I’ve managed to finish some special projects that have been hanging over my head and am able to focus on other things, at least for now. As a result of this busy-ness, I haven’t even wanted to look at a computer outside of work/on my lunch break. My bad.
Also, does anyone else get completely weird with daylight savings? I just can’t get a handle on it. Hence my writing this post more days after Daylight Savings than I care to admit….
In other news, I’m super excited because my friend Tina is not only doing the Turkey Trot this year (AND, Vanessa, too–I think!), but she asked me to run the loop with her a couple of weeks ago. She may have thought it was a mistake when I made her run up the hills, but she was glad when it was all said and done. I’m still waiting for her invite to run the loop again…
Post-forcing Tina to run up the last hill!
Other than that, I did a race three weekends ago. My friend Kristy and I even went in costume…kind of. She did an awesome job of painting our faces. Read about it here.
Big news! Farmer Ben and I finally bought a new bed. Not only did we upgrade from a full to a queen, but we also went with memory foam, and let me tell you, I have not slept so well in a LONG time. We also got a ridiculously good deal.
In fact, between daylight savings and our new bed, getting up in the morning is damn near impossible!
Moving on, Farmer Ben made bagels. While cooking dinner. I know I’ve said this before, but how amazing is he?!
My Mad Scientist
I love Farmer Ben.
Breakfast was epic last week…
And dinner? Even better. What he made while making bagels:
Pan-fried (garden) potatoes, grass-fed bison steak and homemade sweet-and-sour (local) cabbage.
In other food news, I’ve been craving greens lately. Greens and anything kind of related to tacos/nachos.
On the running front, I’ve been bad about getting out and running (shocker, I know), but I have a run planned after work (Hi Kristy!) and as soon as I finish this post, I’ll be updating my schedule to include workouts this week. I am still deciding if I want to a December half marathon for giggles… and I have it narrowed down to two races! One of them will be free if I can find a volunteer…any takers? It’s in Gloucester, MA…. The other is in New Hampshire…apparently I like torturing myself by running in freezing weather….
This weekend was marvelous. I slept in on Saturday, drove the hubby to work, came home, vegged out with a movie, took a nap, caught up on some reading and discovered an awesome new workout app. I’ll fill you in a little more on my next post, but I am still sore today.
Big shoutout to my friend Chelsea on her most recent 5k. She ran a kick-ass race and improved her time by about 9 minutes. 9 minutes!!!! Amazing!
Happy Monday!
Tell me, what’s your favorite breakfast? What foods are you craving lately? Any winter races on the docket? Give me a random update!
Confessions: Coffee Heartbreak
Posted: August 29, 2013 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions, Food, Fun, Life, Random, Ridiculousness | Tags: cars, coffee, coffee pot, coffee river, coffee talk, community coffee, confessions, mishaps, work 2 CommentsToday is not going well, friends.
I stepped out of my car this morning and immediately dumped my coffee all over the parking lot (and maybe the passenger side door of a co-worker’s car…oops). Needless to say, I was heartbroken. It was a full-to-the-brim, large coffee and there was a mere sip left after I scrambled to pick it up. I am almost ashamed to admit that I took that last sip– I had to!
I don’t know if I’ve told you about the coffee at my workplace…if I haven’t, I’ll fill you in: It’s awful. And, for whatever reason, there is only non-dairy creamer available (what is that anyway? Corn starch?! I don’t even know…) unless I remember to bring my own half and half…and when I do, I have to hide it in the community fridge because it tends to disappear.
This morning, I got out of the house early enough where I had time to go through town and treat myself…so I stopped at Stewart’s.
If you are unfamiliar with Stewart’s, it’s an upstate NY/Vermont chain…a gas station/mini-mart deal. They have good, no-fuss coffee, on the cheap.
So, you can imagine my disappointment, when, upon opening my car door, I immediately dumped my entire coffee all over the ground…granted, it was only a dollar or two, but still! It’s the principle of the matter.
And there I was, a coffee river at my feet and unable to process what had just occurred. So after entering the building, I went to the community coffee pot and filled up.
Heartbroken in Upstate NY,
Noelle
PS. Luckily, I had some half and half stashed in the fridge…still not good.
Coffee Talk: Have you ever had a coffee heartbreak? Workplace coffee, good or downright awful?!
The Art of Photo-Bombing: Part II
Posted: August 24, 2013 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions, Fun, Ridiculousness | Tags: awkward family photos, family, photo-bombing, photos, pictures 1 CommentMy sister took this little gem over the weekend. She wanted a picture of my brother wearing that shirt….I seized the opportunity.
Photo-bombing lesson: The element of surprise is key.
Any words of wisdom to fellow photo-ruiners?
Happy photo-bombing!!!
Update: Real Talk-Legs
Posted: August 22, 2013 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions, Fun, Random, Ridiculousness | Tags: confessions, Fashion, legs, real talk, sisters, skinny jeans Leave a commentRemember how I opened up to you about my struggle with skinny jeans?
Folks, my sister found a pair that fits me! She and her hubs are up visiting and she brought a pair to prove to me that, there are in fact, skinny jeans I can wear.
You win, this time, Meghan.
For those interested, these are from Kohl’s.
Shocked and awed!
Miracle? Plain luck? We don’t know.
What is your biggest issue finding pants? Favorite brand of skinny jeans?</strong>
Would You Rather… Running Style Survey!
Posted: August 15, 2013 Filed under: Confessions, Fun, Gross But Necessary, Random, Ridiculousness | Tags: confessions, fitness, Gross But Necessary, healthy-living, marathon training, motivation, running, survey, working out, would you rather.. 6 CommentsI’ve never done one of these before, but I stumbled on Olive To Run’s Post and figured I’d give it a try…
Anyway, let’s get started!
1. Would you rather… Be dressed up like a Zombie for a race OR be chased by a Zombie during a race?
Hmm… I’d say be chased, it just seems like it would be absolutely hysterical! There is a run in October at a local farm where people chase you around on horseback and try to “capture” you…think flag football, with a monster twist… I think it’s on the race docket this year!
I could totally outrun zombies!
2. Would you rather… train with Chuck Norris or train with Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Chuck Norris, obviously.
3. Would you rather…Get stuck in an elevator after a race with other people and have to pee or get stuck in a port-a-potty at your race?
As weak as my stomach is around poo/vomit? I’d say get stuck in an elevator, I’d just make everyone turn around.
4. Would you rather… drink milk as you run your race or drink soda/pop?
Barf… gah… I don’t know… I’d say milk for the electrolytes and protein, I suppose.
I don’t think I could put either in my camelbak
5. Would you rather… puke all the way down the front of yourself during a race or have someone ELSE puke on your foot?
Honestly, I’d say someone puke on my foot… At least I can rinse it off with some water…I don’t think I could take the smell of vomit all down my front!
6. Would you rather… be three feet taller than you currently are or three feet shorter than you currently are?
Three feet taller… I’m only 5′ 4″!
I can’t imagine being much shorter…
7. Would you rather… sing call me maybe on repeat during a race OR do the Macarena the entire race?
Call Me, Maybe. No contest.
Confession: I listen to the Carly Rae Jepsen station on Pandora during a lot of my long runs. Don’t judge!
8. Would you rather… have someone’s snot rocket hit you in the face or someone’s blood from chaffing hit you in the face?
Snot Rocket… I’m not good with blood.
9. Would you rather… receive a beautiful, shiny medal at the end of your race OR have the race organizers donate $100 to a charity after you finish a race?
Charity! As much as I love runner swag, I’d rather have the money go to someone who needs it, especially after planning a charity run and knowing what goes into it.
10. Would you rather… “hit the wall” halfway through your race distance and struggle the rest of the way OR get close to the end feeling great the whole time but end up having to DNF?
Funny, I was actually jus thinking about this the other day… I’d say hit the wall… as painful as it would be, the feeling of accomplishment after would be worth it.
Thanks to Cori for this fun survey!
What about you?! What are you best “would you rather…” questions?
Noelle's Notebook 