Here's Lookin at Ya Kid!

My little nephew has around 9 more weeks till he graces us all with his presence. Below is one of the pictures from his 4-D ultrasound. Everyone swears up and down he looks like my brother. My brother has also started calling him "Mini-Me." How cute is that?! it's CRAZY how much they look a like! On some of the pictures, I do see some resemblance to my sister-in-law though! Regardless, I know he'll have the same appreciation for funny movies as they do and a sweet heart....not to mention some killer dance moves and sweet nun chuck skills=) (OBVIOUS family inside joke on that last one.)

Can't wait to meet you little guy! I think he's adorable already!

Valentine's Day 2011

Well, yesterday was one of my favorite Valentine's Days so far=) After work, I came home to start cooking our Valentine's Day dinner. We had:

* Steak au Poivre
* Crab Cakes
* Roasted Asparagus
* Little "Softhearted Chocolate Cakes" (Recipe and Picture below are from BHG.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces (1/2 pound)

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped or 1-1/3 cups semisweet chocolate pieces

• 4 eggs

• 4 egg yolks

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/8 teaspoon teaspoon salt

• Whipped cream (optional)

• Raspberry Sauce (see recipe below) (optional) and/or fresh raspberries

Directions

1. Lightly butter eight 8-ounce ramekins or 1-cup souffle dishes; line bottoms with parchment or wax paper. Place the prepared ramekins on a shallow baking pan or on a large cookie sheet. Set aside.

2. In a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool slightly. (Or, in a mixing bowl, combine the butter and chocolate. Place mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water and melt butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove bowl from the simmering water pot; set aside to cool slightly.)

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Mix a large dollop of the beaten eggs into the butter-chocolate mixture. Gently fold until combined. Add butter-chocolate mixture to remaining beaten egg mixture and fold. After a few folds, sprinkle in sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt. Continue to fold until the mixture is combined.

4. Quickly divide the batter evenly among prepared ramekins. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 9 to 10 minutes or till cakes feel firm to the touch on top edges, but still soft in the center when pressed with a fingertip. Remove from oven; set ramekins on a wire rack. Let cakes cool completely in ramekins.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. When cakes are cool, use a small metal spatula to loosen edge of cakes from side of ramekin and unmold onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. The centers of the cakes are supposed to be soft. (If not using immediately, wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.)

6. When ready to serve, place cakes on a microwaveable serving plate. Heat in a microwave oven on 100 percent power for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until warm. (Center of cake will slightly pop up.) Serve with whipped cream and garnish with a splash of Raspberry Sauce and/or fresh raspberries, if you like.

Raspberry Sauce: In a blender container or food processor bowl, cover and blend or process one 10-ounce package frozen and thawed red raspberries in syrup until pureed. Use a fine sieve to sieve berry mixture. Cover and refrigerate the sauce till ready to use. Makes 2/3 cup.

**********

In the middle of finishing up cooking, J surprised me with a SWEET Valentine's Day balloon, a dozen GORGEOUS red roses, and the cutest valentine I've ever gotten! He certainly made a gal who loves Valentine's Day feel SUPER special!!!!!

I have an AWESOME Valentine!

We had a great time eating our nice dinner and relaxing. We definitely know that LOVE should be shown all year round and not just on Valentine's Day. We're certainly advocates of that! However, yesterday was SUPER special with my Valentine! I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

I LOVE Valentine's Day!

It is my absolute favorite holiday! Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy gal at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. However, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Valentine's Day.



Here's why:

1. YES, Love is celebrated all year round as it should be. However, I feel like there is a great deal of people out there who go out of their way to make an attempt to really focus on their significant other on this holiday. I've always enjoyed watching others around me celebrate this day even if I didn't have a date on Valentine's Day. True story! I even handed out valentine's (CHEESY ones at that) even when I was WAY too old to do it! I think it is a fun holiday! One suggestion I heard this year is that people need to make Valentine's Day about THEM as a couple and not just do something traditionally Valentine's Day-ish....like a super expensive dinner. If you two like being outdoors, plan something outdoors!

2. My favorite color to wear is black...not because I'm depressed. Black just looks sharp to me. I like the way I feel wearing black. However, my two favorite colors to look at or have around me are red and pink. Everything on Valentine's Day is red and pink. Hence, the second reason I enjoy this holiday so much!

3. I'll admit it, I KNOW this holiday is very commercialized....but I find it very cute for that same reason. I love the cheesy Valentine's Day cards, the chocolates, and the roses. I DO! They're fun! I've always told J he didn't ever have to get me anything expensive on Valentine's Day....just a rose and a card will make the day special=) He's always been really sweet to get me a cute Valentine's Day balloon and some flowers. I love it!

This year, I'm planning a nice dinner at home for us. I'm sure I'll find a super awesome card and a little something for J as well! Happy upcoming Valentine's Day!

Onward and Upward

The competition came and went. I had new experiences and learned new things as I do at all of my competitions. I had some mixed feeling regarding my performance. On one hand, I did challenge myself and do routines at a level I had never done before. My instructor was really happy with my performance. I, on the other hand, didn't feel like I danced to the best of my ability. I placed well. Who can complain with that? Well, I know the technique and I don't feel like I danced up to my ability.

Now, I had a few things floating in my head as to maybe why that happened. But in reality, when I looked at how I placed AND when I recognized that I had not one set of Latin routines but TWO...I feel like I went up against that pressure and still stood tall.

So, I have a whole new set of challenges to overcome and grow with for the next 6 months until my next competition. I'm taking a few weeks to rest my knee and work with my physical therapist. However, I'll be more than ready to step up and face those new challenges when the time comes.

Once my therapy is done, I also will have a new tool in my fitness arsenal. Meet our new Elliptical Trainer. Originally, I had looked into getting a Treadmill. However, at the advice of my physical therapist, we decided an elliptical would be better on my knee in the long run. I was able to purchase it on a payment plan. I plan on paying it off with no interest just like I have done most recent major purchases. I've made the decision to be start making the move to do all of my workouts at home by purchasing the necessary tools and equipment over the next year and a half. I'm fortunate to be one of the lucky ones with the willpower to workout at home. I've really liked my Insanity DVD at-home use and also plan on getting additional DVDs just as intense as those workouts.

So I'm going to be focusing on my knee getting WELL. Then I'll be back up and running....and dancing.

Challenging Myself

I'm really challenging myself in my dancing in my next competition. I've got a competition next week and I'm doing routines that have really scared me this time around. They have scared me in that they are more advanced than anything I've ever done and in a higher level than I competed in previously. I know that my instructor believes in me more than I do right now. But I'm determined to have that same belief in myself. I LOVE to dance and I want to grow in it.

I believe that going up against your fears is the huge way to grow. I'm going to go out there and envision nothing but completing these routines and doing them better than I could have ever expected! I'm going to grow so much in the process.

I've found some quotes and scriptures that I thought were appropriate for this post. Maybe someone else can benefit from them too.

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals."
-- Henry Ford

"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind." - - Dale Carnegie

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." - - Dale Carnegie

"Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears." - - Les Brown

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and of sound mind." - 2 Timothy 1:7

SO, here is a video of a fantastic Latin final for some additional inspiration!

Chondromalacia Patella

THIS is the knee ailment I am currently recuperating from. It's the fancy way of saying, "damaged cartilage under kneecap." The next step involves my starting physical therapy. My physician is currently in the process of setting this up for me.

Three Lessons Can be Learned from this:

1. No matter how long you have been working out, you STILL have to watch your form: If you're doing switch-leap-lunges and they remind you to watch your knee placement. Don't just assume you do this naturally.....MRS. MEL B! I'm not going to attempt to write this out because this is something easier shown than said. If you've got questions regarding what's correct and incorrect in regards to proper knee placement, I suggest you consult a physician.

2. See post on workout shoes below. I still can't comprehend on how I made such a mistake. I've been in sports long enough to know the correct information on which workout shoes to wear. Goodness gracious.

3. "Increase intensity gradually. Avoid sudden changes in the intensity of your workouts." - This is going to be my lesson going forward. This helpful information was found on www.mayoclinic.com. Once I get over this injury, I really need to HEED this advice. Normally, I'd jump back into my usual routine. I'm really going to have to work hard at maintaining a safe pace to get back to my normal level of activity. For someone who has been as active as I am for as LONG as I have...I need to be careful. Naturally, I've got some creaks and funny noises coming from my knees after years of wear and tear from sports, dance, cheerleading, etc. Going forward I need to adjust workouts slowly to avoid any sudden changes that could cause further injury.

PSA - Buy New Workout Shoes!

So apparently, there are stricter guidelines on what types of shoes are acceptable for certain workouts. I hate to admit that I've been really naive about what types of shoes I should wear for certain exercises. All my life I have worn shoes that simply LOOKED good. More often than not, these ended up being running shoes. Running shoes are fantastic....if you're a runner/walker. They're also OK for light aerobic exercising as well.

However, my research on what has been causing my knee pain, has led me to the discovery that I was wearing the wrong shoes. Now, there are a few other things that probably aided in the knee pain like using the wrong knee placement in certain exercises like squats and lunges. However, I remember being warned about making sure I bought the proper shoes when I started this Insanity workout program. I also discovered through my research that you are supposed to change out your workout shoes at certain times in the year depending on your level of activity. According to my level of activity, I need to purchase new workout shoes a MINIMUM of twice a year. I am embarrassed to admit that I have owned my most recent pair almost 3 years. My back-up pair was almost SEVEN years old. WOW, I was WAY off!

SO, I did a ton of research on what type of shoes I should buy. I ended up buying a pair of cross trainers, (Nike AirMax Trainer I) that would support the lateral movement and high intensity of my workouts.

I couldn't find a picture of my exact shoe, but here is something that looks similar.



Obviously, the shoes aren't a magic fix to the current knee pain I have. BUT they are going to help me have proper support in the future. My doctor said my x-rays looked fine and that I needed to take it easier for the next two weeks. I initially took one week off from my normal program. Now that I have resumed exercising, I make sure to ice my knee after workouts and take anti-inflammatory aids to help as well. I'm currently having to do alternative exercises instead of the jumping in some of my workouts for another week. My knee is getting better even though the healing has been slower than I prefer.

I was able to find some good online resources about workout shoes. However, one link I recommend is http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30184.asp .