Tag Archives: care packages

Fast as an Easter Rabbit

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Morning Workout: 4 miles @ 31:09 (avg pace = 7’47″)

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I always seem to run out of time in the mornings to get in a good 3 reps of either an upper or lower body workout after running and the abs challenge.  Even though I get up before the sun, I enjoy a good, leisurely hour before actually getting my butt in gear.  This may sound crazy to 99.9% of you, but it’s how I roll.

I’ve decided that I’m going to start breaking up my workout into two parts, and completing my abs exercises at the end of the day.  I can tell that I’m not working as hard on my strength training, and that’s something that’s important to me to maintain.  So starting tonight, I will do my second half of my workout while watching Survivor.

I was able to get a nice Tempo Run in this morning.  I have created an extra goal for April: 5 runs with an average pace of 7’50″ or faster.  Today was one of those days.

I started out wanting to have one of my “fun runs,” and go at a decent clip around 8’05.” As I was rounding the corner on my 3rd mile, I started losing a little steam, so I switched over to my Power Song: “Sexy and I Know It” and blasted through!  I was proud of myself for completing such a challenging run.  I didn’t look down to see what my pace was, so when I saw my splits on the Nike Running site, it all made sense.

In other exciting news, Dear Hubby and I received our Easter Basket from my mom and dad.  It doesn’t matter how old you get, seeing the pink crinkle grass around a bag of pastel M&Ms makes me laugh and squeal with joy.

Oh my Sugar-Induced-Coma-Causing Lord!  Do my parents know how to celebrate the end of a 40-day Sugar-Free Lenten season or what?!?!

The truth is, I’m enjoying my sugarless lifestyle so much, I am planning on keeping it up.  Dear Hubby agreed that was fair.

While Dear Hubby was wriggling in his new-found spoils of being my parents’ son-in-law, I don’t think he noticed that I slipped this bag of practically sugar-free Easter treats:

Fancy Oatmeal logic dictates that if you have 10% or less of a serving size = zero calories/sugar

Do you still get an Easter basket?

Do you have any special rules for eating?

Five-Second Rule + the 10% Rule

Island Life

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One thing that naturally comes along with moving to an Alaskan island is being asked a thousand questions.  They range from the traditional ones about the weather and culture to somewhat rude ones, such as “What do you even do up there?” or “How big is your igloo?”   True, there are some things that Dear Hubby and I have had to sacrifice for our lives here, but they are well worth what we get in return.  I hope that this post clears up all the confusion.

The Weather

People automatically assume that because we’re talking about Alaska that the entire state is one giant blizzard.  True, there are areas on the interior of the state that reach mega negative number temps, but that is not the case on our island.  Right now, at the end of August, it averages about 50 degrees on a daily basis.  In the dead of winter, the temperatures range between 10 and 25 degrees, and might drop even more after the norther ice pack shows up.  We do not get a lot of snow, but the winds get quite lively at times, usually between 10-25 mph.  A few times last year, the winds got up to 100 miles an hour.

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But what might be left to be desired about the weather, we have charm.

Food

I’ve made mention in the past about what it’s like getting food from it’s source to my mouth.  First, there are no restaurants here.  Everything is homemade or cooked at home.  You can definitely buy and be satisfied by what is offered at the A.C. store on the island, but there is a price to pay for it.  1/2 gallon of milk costs $7.00 and the fresh fruits and vegetables are not always available.  We do have a bypass shopping system that Dear Hubby and I utilize as much as possible; buying items in bulk and it comes every other week.  Again this doesn’t provide all the necessities or wants, but it sure does help.  A final option is having food shipped.  Depending on what it is and its availability from local retailers in Anchorage, we may buy from the following sources: Amazon.com, Fred Meyer, or Target.  Most of the time, an email home will secure a care package pretty easily =)

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So sure, fresh strawberries and Almond Breeze milk isn’t in my kitchen here, we have picturesque views that fill me up instead.

Entertainment

Another question that I get a lot is what is it we do up here since there are no malls, no movie theaters, no sporting arenas, no stores.  It definitely did take awhile to get used to having all this “free time” on our hands.  Dear Hubby has his XBOX that keeps him busy, and I now have my blog.  Another thing that we do that keeps us busy is reading.  Now you can laugh if you want to, but it’s one of those things like, “you’re going to make fun of me for being healthy and not drinking the night away so that I can run my 16 miles tomorrow?”  It’s a healthy and cheaper alternative than retail therapy.

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I would prefer to look at this everyday than another cookie cutter strip mall:

Wild Life

Alaska is known for it’s crazy-dangerous animal population: bears, moose, wolves, and other creepers hiding in the forrest.

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Thankfully, this is not a concern for us on the island.  The biggest issue we have, animal-wise, is with the foxes and stray cats that wander into our garbage bins, looking for an easy meal.  There are no wolves, bears, or moose here.  We do however have fur seals, a herd of reindeer, and a bazillion different species of birds.  And they all live somewhere out there: