Progress

-10

I don't want to brag but... today I hit my 10 pound mark in my weight loss!  I was really excited when I got on the scale this morning.  Scott can vouch for this.  It has taken me 10 months which is a really long time... but I'm glad I have reached this point even if it has taken that long.  My clothes are fitting better and I feel good.  The secret?  Counting calories and exercise!  It really is that obvious and simple.  I also like apps on my phone that make it a little more fun tracking progress.  As I mentioned before my faves are:  myfitnesspal (for tracking food and exercise) and nike+ (to use on my runs).  I have another 4.4 pounds to go until I reach my goal weight.  Here's to continuing on!

P.S. I decided now is the time for me to learn to take care of myself, so that's what I have been focusing on.  I'm sorry if these kinds of posts are boring... it helps me to stay motivated to talk about it. 

Meal Plan for 1/29 - 2/4

One of my goals this year is to be better at meal planning.  My sister Amber has been posting her meal plans on her blog.  I really like seeing what other people make for dinner to get ideas.  I was talking to her on the phone last night and she mentioned that she might stop posting her meal planning on her blog.  Amber keep posting!  It's my motivation to start doing it too:)

Below is my meal plan for next week.  When I try new recipes I will let you know if they are worth trying or not:)

Sunday: 

• Skinny Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy (new recipe)
• Mashed Potatoes
• Corn
• Salad

Monday: 

• Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado and Cumin-Lime Dressing (new recipe)

Tuesday: 

• Egg Sandwiches

Wednesday:

• Asian Flank Steak Skewers (new recipe)
• Rice
• Broccoli

Thursday: 

• Leftovers

Friday:

• French Dip Sandwiches
• Potato Wedges
• Zucchini

Saturday:

• Eating Out   

MyFitnessPal

If you haven't heard of MyFitnessPal, you have to check it out!  If you have an iPhone/Android phone, it's a free app.  You can also go to the website http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.  Scott showed it to me when I was trying to find a free way to track my exercise and food.  I have been using it for a while now, though I was slacking for a bit, I'm back on board.  Check it out!  If you join, you can add me as a friend (just search for ashleynstevenson under user name).  And if you have been using it, but have slacked like me, come back and we can support each other!  I'm 5 pounds away from my goal weight and I decided I'm going to be serious to get the rest of it off.  I love when other people share things that they find and love, so I thought I would return the favor:)

Falling in Slow Motion

Last night I was heading to a Relief Society activity up at the church.  I got to the subway stop and as usual was trying to get my metro card out of my wallet while running down the stairs.  While in the process of pulling out my card, I caught the step weird and began to fall.  I I literally felt like I was falling in slow motion.  Every once and a while my foot would catch another step, but I kept falling.  The only thought that kept running through my head was, "I'm going to fall on my face... I'm going to fall on my face!"  It felt like there was nothing I could do but continue to fall.  The fall that seemed like forever ended when I fell into the arms of an older guy about to head up the stairs.  I was shaken up by the whole thing and embarrassed.  So when he asked if I was okay the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "Sorry... Sorry... I think I tripped."  I also think I mustered a thanks, and I heard him yell, "be careful!" as I ran down the next set of stairs.  It was an embarrassing moment, but I was grateful that the person was there to keep me from falling on my face:)  All I ended up with was a little scratch on my finger - which probably happened on the wall as I was trying to grab onto the rail but missed.  Thinking about it later, I laughed about it because it is kind of a funny story.  Embarrassing, but funny.

Apple Crisp

At work on Friday, I was given a basket of apples that an attorney didn't want.  When I got home Scott and I decided that apple crisp sounded good.  I decided to try a different recipe than I normally make. 

I used Pioneer Woman's recipe for Pear Crisp and then just put in apples instead.  It was delicious!  I was hesitant to put in the pecans, because I'm not a real nut person.  Scott convinced me to put them in and the pecans made the recipe!  Here's the recipe with my changes:

Apple Crisp

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4
4 large Granny Smith apples
2/3 cups Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Topping: 
1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/3 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Pecans, Very Finely Chopped (Don't leave these out!)
1 stick Butter, Melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel, core, and dice apples. Place into a bowl and stir together with 2/3 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Stir together. Drizzle melted butter gradually, stirring with a fork as you go until all combined.

Pour apples into a baking dish; top with crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Place pan on top rack of oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Morning Run

This morning I went on a run with Maddie.  We usually go at 5:30, but this morning we went at 6:30.  We ran across the George Washington Bridge and then we turned around to run back.  This was our view the whole way home!  It was a gorgeous sunrise!  Thanks Maddie for stopping to take a picture. 

P.S. It was also 40 degrees outside this morning - perfect run:)

Second Utah Trip in December! (Christmas 2011)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we flew to Utah for my brother's wedding.  It wasn't too hard leaving because we knew we would be back in a couple of weeks for Christmas. 

Disclaimer:  I have no pictures in this post because we just enjoyed ourselves and forgot to take pictures:)  I will try to be better in the new year with pictures. 

Scott flew to Utah a few days before me and there were a few reasons for this:
1.  Scott was done with school, and I still had to work. 
2.  Flights were a LOT cheaper on that day. 

So since Scott had flexibility with his scheduled he went early.  I was very anxious to get to Utah so I was excited when I finally got to go. 

It was great to spend a lot of time with our families!  Sometimes it is very hard for me to live so far away, so it's nice to be able to visit. 

Our trip went by so fast!  We celebrated all the holidays,  I went to exercise classes at the gym, we ate a lot of good food, did lots of bowling, played games, did karaoke, played with the nieces/nephews, went shopping, saw some friends, my little sister Courtney turned 17, we talked to my brother Cody on his mission, and our family friend Patti was baptized.  It was a great trip! 

I was disappointed that there was no snow...though maybe it was for the better because we never had to scrape off a car or drive in it! 

Our trip back to New York wasn't as fun, being delayed a few hours.  But we made it back and are now trying to revert back to real life:)

Christmas Letter 2011

Cameron and Marielsy's Wedding

My little brother Cameron married Marielsy on December 2nd.  We flew out for the wedding and it was a beautiful day.  Here are a few pictures:

*these aren't the professional photos, just ones I stole from facebook*

Thanksgiving 2011

For Thanksgiving, we decided to get up really early to go to the Macy's Parade.  We left at 5:30 am hoping to get there by 6:00 am to stake out our spot.  The subway ended up taking forever, so we got there later than we were hoping.  We still had a great time though!  Here are a few pictures:

After the parade we had an early Thanksgiving dinner hosted by our friends, the Thomson's.  It was different being away from our Utah family, but it was also nice to have friends to spend it with.  I am lazy and am going to link to Maddie's Thanksgiving posts:)  If you want to read about our Thanksgiving dinner read here and here.  It was a very nice Thanksgiving.