Archive for the ‘ Kansas ’ Category

The Turner’s First Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Veronica and I have a lot to be thankful for and as this is our first Thanksgiving as Mr. and Mrs. Turner we are cooking a “traditional” Thanksgiving meal complete with turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. For dessert we have carrot cake and pumpkin pie.

WHOA! You may be thinking, that’s a TON of food for two people. Fear not as Veronica’s mom and sister are coming to dinner as well as my mom. It will be the first thanksgiving in our new house as well.

So far this morning we have cleaned the turkey and put that big bird in the oven. Now we will slowly prepare all the other items and wait for our families to arrive. A side note on the turkey; we bought a near 16lb turkey to feed 5 people. Yeah, that’s huge for 5 people. Maybe not if that’s all we were eating but that’s not all we’re eating so there will definitely be some holiday leftovers!

That is all for now. We’ll have some pictures this evening of our festivities.

2009
11/26
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CATEGORY
Food
House
Kansas
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P.O.t.M. Challenge Update

–>Click here <–

2009
11/24
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CATEGORY
Fitness
Kansas
Running
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P.O.t.M. Update #2

Check it out!

2009
11/18
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CATEGORY
Kansas
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Holidays Up and Coming!

First I’d like to apologize for the insane lack of posting. A few weeks ago both Veronica and I got sick and had been less than excited about it.  Ancillary things got pushed to the side as we nursed ourselves back to health and some semblance of normality. Not only did this hamper our normal schedule and routine for a while, but it also impacted our P.O.t.M challenge which you can read about here.

Ever onward!

The holiday season has more than crept up on us and Veronica and I are very excited for the season.  This will be our first holiday season in our new home! We have a few traditions we want to start at our new house. One of which will be having the Logan’s over to make gingerbread houses and celebrate an early Christmas with us.  Not only will this be the first time they’ve seen our house but it will be one of the first traditions we begin!

Also coming up is Thanksgiving and we will be inviting our families out to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner that Veronica and I are going to attempt to cook. I’m sure all will turn out great and we are super excited for everyone to be around for the holidays.

Hopefully some pictures of our holiday celebrations and gatherings will be placed up here for all to see!

Until next time,

Sean

2009
11/17
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CATEGORY
Kansas
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A New Addition!

Sean and I have recently adopted a new member of the family…. a Garmin Forerunner! (No, not a dog like you might have been expecting – and certainly no babies in our near future!) After reading so many blogs where people were able to document there mile splits, exact mileage and so on with such accuracy, we decided that it was time we checked it out. We decided on the Forerunner after trying it on at Best Buy. Had to make sure it wasn’t too bulky or uncomfortable!

Sunday was our first attempt at using it while we ran. We were in Columbia for MU Homecoming so we went to the Katy Trail – a little piece of heaven on earth! We decided that we would run 4 miles and begin slow – a 10:30 pace and then speed it up from there. The plan was great in all, but turns out that my normal speed is more like a 12 minute mile so the 10:30 pace felt like a sprint! That was a blow to the self-esteem! On top of that, the Forerunner is not instant – ie after about 30 seconds you get a true reading of your pace not right away. We didn’t really know that so we were slowing down and speeding up faster than the Forerunner could handle. It is comical now but definitely was not at the time. We did end up completing 4 miles, but it was not pretty and only slightly enjoyable.

Last night we decided to give the Forerunner another chance. We spent some time setting up an interval program – 4 min run: 1 min walk. Let me tell you – this little guy is a champ! We pressed start and it told us everything we needed to know. Run for 4:00! Speed up! In Desired Zone! Slow Down! It was like running with a personal trainer. I absolutely loved it. We did 2.66 miles in 30 min! We average a 11:16 mile and got up to a 9:54 pace for the last 4 min run. It was such a great experience. A far cry from the torture that was our Sunday run!

Happy Wednesday!

- Veronica

2009
10/28
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Kansas
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Whole-E Health food

Well, we did it. We finally made our first attempt to get our groceries from Whole Foods Market. I must say that Veronica and I both were a little apprehensive. Mainly the unknown of how expensive everything could be lingered in the back of our minds all the way until that final tallied number.  And you know what? It’s not that much more expensive, if at all than our normal grocery shopping. We managed to get organic foods that taste wonderful, were competitively priced, and are better for us.

There was definitely something fun and exciting about finding new foods that organic and healthy for us. It also helps add to the excitement of our new goal for the “Pile on the Miles” challenge that we will be attempting. This all leads up to the half-marathon that we are training for.

We were inspired to attempt the half-marathon thanks to our friend Lauren who completed the KC Half-marathon just a few weeks ago. It was awesome to see someone work so hard and achieve such a goal that Veronica and I both decided we wanted to attempt the same challenge.

Another benefit of training for the half-marathon, doing the P.O.t.M. challenge, and eating better is that we will have healthier bodies for it. Lord knows it’s difficult to keep motivated when you sit at a cube for 10-12 hours a day. But I know that with Veronica and I encouraging each other we’ll reach our goals and keep elevating ourselves.

2009
10/27
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CATEGORY
Food
Kansas
Nutrition
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You know how I know you're not paying attention?

Because your driver side mirror is folded in and you’re doing 70 mph on the highway. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this recently but it is ridiculous. It blows my mind all the things people do while they are supposed to be driving. I’m not saying hands need to be at 10 and 2 all the time (more so because it actually is not the best driving position) but look where you’re going. Put down the super-size fry, cigarette, and cell phone and look where you’re going and who you can avoid running into.

That’s all for now.

2009
09/29
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Kansas
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Recent going ons

We just got back from our first attempt at a cycling class at Healthridge Fitness. For me it was AWFUL. Nothing has ever made me feel so out of shape as this class. I came to a few conclusions afterward that may make for the next time I try a cycling class.

  1. learn how to elliptical (I’ve noticed the motions are somewhat identical when your standing and peddling on a stationary bike).
  2. start with a lower intensity. I started trying to win the race in the first 2 minutes. That didn’t get me anywhere at the end of it.
  3. The instructor needs better music. I.E. Saosin, Alexisonfire, Killswitch Engage, basically anything that will make one angry and get rid of aggression.

Other recent events since we’ve been married include settling in to a routine. It’s nice to have some semblance of normality and routine every day. Some days it gets a little out of whack, but mostly it flows nicely. Veronica and I found a cook book at Target that is all about cooking light. I believe the motto of the book is either 5 ingredients or 15 minutes to cook. So far we’ve tried about 8 – 10 meals and almost all of them have been great. That coupled with working out more frequently and our health seems to be going in the right direction.

Last Saturday when Veronica and I went back to Columbia we went on the MKT and ran a new personal goal of 7 miles. This is all in training for the 10k that we are running in 2 weeks. It is the Helen Gold 10k and hopefully is a pretty mild run.

Our next big task is to outfit our office at home. We have started gather ideas and keeping them in anodea binder. The hope is that this wil allow us to maintain a clear vision of design and only buy/design things that wil add to the space.

That concludes this update. Until next time

Sean

2009
08/26
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CATEGORY
Fitness
Kansas
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Welcome

Hello, this is the new home of our blog. I am hoping this site will hold us over until I learn how to host my own website. Please stay tuned. Click around some.

Enjoy,
Sean

2009
08/19
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CATEGORY
Kansas
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