On the Ninth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: December 5, 2013

Author: astottler

9 kittens!

As a lot of you may know, I volunteered in the kitten nursery at the local humane society over the summer. It was a seriously amazing experience, and I do think it influenced me a lot. That being said, of course I have a ton of kitten photos. I think it is fitting that 12 days of Christmas is exposing my (not so) inner cat lady, between this and yesterday’s post!

So without further ado…9 kittens!

Confession: this was my favorite litter. It was so amazing to watch them grow up!

This little guy was probably my favorite kitten.

Any other crazy cat ladies out there?

On the Eighth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: December 4, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

8 holiday traditions!

Before I get into today’s day of Christmas, I want to talk about fitness for a moment, since I haven’t gotten much chance to since starting 12 days.

I may have mentioned this before, but my feet have been trying to murder me in a new and interesting way as of late. My arches have been KILLING-the worst was the night of the turkey trot, when I was stuck on my feet for hours Black Friday shopping, but they’ve been bad for about a month. I’m pretty sure it’s related to my Achilles tendon-I’ve had tendonitis there in the past, and I think the problems with my Achilles are pulling on whatever connects to the arch of my feet. It’s been bad-earlier this week I was limping something fierce-it hasn’t been a huge issue for my running because it feels much better in the morning than later in the day, and I can stretch and make it feel better. The good news is it’s been getting way better this week, and I finally may have a cure. I FINALLY made it out to yoga tonight-I thought that all the stretching would loosen up my Achilles and make it feel better. However, I think I discovered the real cause-all the little muscles in my ankle and lower calf/Achilles area have gotten insanely weak-when we did balances on one foot, I was shaking like crazy and my muscles were painfully exhausted. This shouldn’t be that big of a surprise I guess-we all know how many times I rolled my ankles during half training!

Anyways, this was kind of a big reminder to me-I’ve gotten kind of stuck into my routine of running, Crossfit, and spin. Which isn’t a bad mix, but I really think I need to do more agility type workouts to strengthen the little muscles-I never had any weird injury type things when I played softball and moved in so many more ways!

Also-I just have to mention how cold it’s been here (all you East Coasters-feel free to laugh) Today was a low of TWENTY EIGHT. So naturally I woke up at 6am for a dark track workout. (It actually wasn’t that bad-gloves are amazing and saved my butt).

I survived!

And that called for an upgrade-a MEDIUM cappuccino. Well, that and the 5 hours of sleep…

And for your enjoyment-this is what I wore to yoga.

ANWAYS.

8 Holiday Traditions!

1. Go to Benihuana’s on Christmas Eve. We’ve done this for YEARS now-and I love it! Believe it or not, I’m pretty sure I had a weight lifting session with my trainer the past two years on Chrsitmas EVE before Benihuana’s…

2011

2010

2009

2. Making and decorating sugar cookies with my crazy friends.

Gingerbread house turned murder scene…

3. Making Spritz cookies with my family (sensing a theme here?)

4. My dad’s company Christmas party. I think I actually enjoy this-I feel like every year either my mom or my sister gets out of this, and it’s just me and my dad-but I’ve gone every year for a LONG time nonetheless!

5. Loading into the car, dog in tow, on Christmas Eve, to see all the Christmas lights and blast Christmas music.

6. Cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer-always!

7. NEW tradition-take the train down to the city (San Francisco) on Christmas Eve and enjoy the Christmas bustle.

8. Send out Christmas cards. The following either appeared in Christmas cards, or were close seconds.

Ok-I admit that last one was just an excuse to show you all cat pictures…

What are your holiday traditions?

On the Seventh Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: December 4, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

7 embarrassing things about yours truly. Because why not have some fun at my expense?

1. I was unable to take real pills until a few years ago. I had to take chewable Advil and such during high school. I could never take the big capsules until I had Mono and everything kind of had to go out the window since I was taking 32 pills a day. I don’t recommend getting Mono, FYI.

2. This photo.

We all had that awkward stage in our lives. This was probably 7th grade. But why not show you it? This is the oldest picture I have on my computer, so you don’t get the worst of the awkwardness. A close second? Awkward stage #2-side bangs that just did not cooperate with my hair. SIgh.

3. Remember the gingerbread man from this photo?

Where did it come from? The freezer. How old is it? Ohhh maybe 4 years…

Here it is in its original non=frozen glory:

Sooo here’s what happened. This little guy’s leg fell off in the frosting process, so I made a little frosting cast for it. Well, my sister decided to pity the poor broken legged gingerbread man, and hasn’t let anyone eat or throw him away since. Did I mention she’s 21? But I figured-hey I need a gingerbread man for the picture-why not put him to work for the first time in 4 years? And don’t worry, he’s safely back in the freezer.

4. I can’t exactly swim. My dad is probably reading this and cringing. I mean, I took swimming lessons when I was little, and can doggy paddle as well as the best of them, but I never really worked out the whole breathing while swimming thing. And now I hate putting my head underwater. Which means I won’t be doing a triathlon anytime soon unless they’re snorkel legal.

That all being said-if you throw me into water, no, I won’t drown. But I may hit you.

5. I once gave myself frostbite. In April. Keep in mind I live in CA and it was about 70 degrees out and I was walking around with frostbite.

It was bad. It blistered and everything. Let’s just say I was a little overeager in icing my foot. This was a fun one to explain why I couldn’t practice, much less walk, to my softball coach…

6. This isn’t really a secret but I’m horrible about cleaning dishes-specifically tupperware. I’ve learned about all kinds of new mold species since coming to college. IN MY DEFENSE-things mold like crazy in our room. On the other hand-I think it was bad enough anyway that that didn’t make an ounce of difference. I’ve actually been really good about keeping my dishes and tupperware clean in the last few months though!

7. I have a lot of gory pictures on my phone. And bruise pictures. So I have a lot of battle scars. But apparently I feel the need to document them all?

And you’re welcome for avoiding the gory pictures (aka box jumps round 1 and 2…)

Getting hit by a softball, getting hit by a softball, wisdom teeth removal face bruise, weightlifting battle scar.

What’s something embarrassing about you? Spill!

WIAW-Meal Prep Edition

Date: December 3, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy WIAW! As always, a giant thanks to Jenn for hosting this weekly party!

Since starting 12 Days of Christmas, I haven’t gotten to talk about my day to day eats in a while, so let’s dive in, shall we?

The most exciting thing I did before returning to college? Meal prep! I wanted something veggie packed and easy to grab and go, so I made a TON of egg cups-they’re filled with egg, chopped kale or spinach, and cheese-some gouda, some parmesan.

Pre-oven

Post oven.

I also made one with cranberry sauce and turkey, if you’re wondering.

I wanted quick grab and go sweet breakfasts as well, so I made mini versions with egg and blueberries, plus a little cinnamon. The most genius thing I did though was mix up some of my pumpkin starter with egg, and top with cinnamon cream cheese. YUM.

I also made a few with fig balsamic and goat cheese (the bottom ones).

I made an extra batch to freeze as well, since everything was already out! I used the pumpkin starter again but added blueberries.

I’ve also been eating a lot of leftover butternut squash soup, from Thanksgiving. SO GOOD. I top it with cranberry relish and creme fraiche.

Another use of leftovers? On my last night home, we used turkey to make quesadillas with jack cheese, spinach, and mushrooms.

My roommate is seriously the best. She brought back an entire crate of fruit from her trees at home, and it’s like 3 layers deep in persimmons.

Obviously, those have been kind of a staple in my diet lately.

Additionally, the giant plate of asparagus at lunch has returned-I topped them with a fresh herb seasoning mixture, and then nutritional yeast. Plus my turkey egg cup.