"Wild Lights" at the Saint Louis Zoo

In Saint Louis, we are lucky to go to our local Zoo and get in for free.  "Wild Lights" is a special thing they do around Christmas time so that people can see all the lights at the Zoo in the dark. I wasn't expecting too much since the tickets were $6.00 a piece, but thought what the heck.  Actually on Living Socials's website they had a deal for this.  2 tickets and 2 hot chocolates for $7.00.  I thought, "Why not, it would be something interesting to blog about anyways".

We got there and parking was a mess.  The parking was free and anyone could go into the parking area at any times.  It only took us 10 minutes to find a spot, but boy was it a nerve racking 10 minutes.  Andy and I do not do well with crowds at all.  We stood in line to get our vouchers and set foot into the Zoo.  This place was super crazy busy and certain areas of the Zoo were roped off, so there wasn't as much space to roam as you normally would be able to do.  

Walking through was neat, but in all honestly I wasn't exactly thrilled with the lights.  I think it was more for kids then adults.  We spent about 30 minutes there and was ready to go.  We decided on Fortel's Pizza Den for dinner and it ended up being a date night for the 2 of us.  While I was glad to have spent this time out with Andy, the Zoo was kind of a let down.  

 Cool looking Santa and Tree in all LED lights, it was really bright. 

 The Penguins

 This photo was called, "Here take the photo real quick before some more kids come up to get their photo with it".  Now looking at the photo, I am not happy with how I am covering up Mama Polar Bear.  Oh well.  

A final photo of us at the Zoo.  Hey, at least I got a photo with Andy!!

The Vet

My poor puppy dog (I think she will always be my puppy, even when she is 10!) has bad allergies.  I see it in photos mostly, around her eyes she has rubbed raw and her paws she chews at all the time.  Andy and I kept saying, "Let's wait till it gets colder and the allergies go away".  Well folks, its December and she is still itching so off to the vet we went.  

While I love our vet office very much, I wasn't too thrilled that we spent over an hour there for allergies on the dog.  But, I wont complain, she got the medicine she needs and hopefully will feel better!  They prescribed her 2 kinds of medications, her first dose taken was that night, so we are hoping for her to feel better in no time! 

Keeley was so tired after her Doctor visit, that she zonked out in-between Andy's legs.  It was too funny!  Mokes landed on my lap.

Well today is Friday, which mean's a weekend of sleeping in and having fun is in store for us.  We plan on going to the Saint Louis Zoo Saturday night for the "Wild Lights" at the Zoo.  I bought a deal on Living Social for 2 tickets and 2 hot chocolates to "Wild Lights" and since the weather won't be too cold or rainy, we plan on going there.  I will put up a post about the lights and photos too!  

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a Happy Weekend!

18 more days till Christmas!!

~Jessica

Busy, Busy, Busy

Every night this week I have had something to do after work.  It's kind of frustrating to know that I am not able to focus on working out after work, but I've made some adjustments to keep my motivation up.  

Monday night

I met a lady who was buying my Nintendo DS from me.  

I did manage to get my 10,000 steps in, but it also required me to walk around my room several hundreds of times to hit that 10,000 mark.  Poor Keeley was so confused as to what I was doing, but gosh darn it, I was going to hit the 10,000 mark!

Tuesday night

I met up with a guy who bought my Nintendo Wii from me. 

I only put in 8014 steps, which I am ok with.  Not everyday will be a 10,000 day, at least for right now it won't be.

Wednesday night

I had an eye doctor appointment.  

I am so proud of myself.  This was my third day in a row walking on my lunch (30 minutes, 1.5 miles), but I came home from my doctor appointment, put dinner in the oven, and hopped on the treadmill for 30 minutes.  

Here was my workout:

Walk 5 minutes

Run 1

Walk 3

Run 1

Walk 3

Run 1

Walk 3

Run 1

Walk 3

Run 1

Walk 3

Fast Walk 1

Walk 4

Thursday night (Tonight)

I have a vet appointment for Keeley at 6pm

I am not sure if I will tackle the treadmill tonight or not, we shall see how tired I am after the vet.  I can tell you, that the lunch walk will be happening!  :) I plan on 2 miles today.  

Friday night

Nothing is planned as of right now, I think I will keep it that way.  Dinner will be leftovers so no worry on making a big meal that night also.  :)

Whew, i'm tired just typing this out.  I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but when you are trying your best to not eat out for dinner and put in some time to the treadmill after work, it's tough task to schedule all together.  

~Jessica

WIAW #7

Happy What I Ate Wednesday Everyone!!! Click here to see others who love WIAW, just as must as I do!!  

Breakfast

Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Cinnamon & Spice and some Hot Raspberry Tea
Snack
Peanut Butter Pretzels (forgot to photo)

Lunch

Leftover dinner from last night, chili mac and a side salad

Dinner

Baked Stuffed Pasta Shells and a side salad
I pre-made this the night before.  I have an eye doctor appointment at 4:30pm and didn't want to not make dinner that night, and this is easy for Andy to throw into the oven while I am getting tortured by the eye doctor.  :)  I found the recipe on pinterest and it turned out great! Click here to get the website recipe 
I will post the recipe here also:
Baked Stuffed Pasta Shells

Thanks to Food.com for a great recipe in our household!

• 12 ounces jumbo pasta shells
• 1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (Reserve 1/4 cup)
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 lbs ricotta cheese
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 8 ounces spaghetti sauce (jarred or homemade)
• fresh basil, chopped, for garnish

Directions:

In an 8 quart pot, bring water to a boil and cook shells for 8 minutes or until al dente

Drain and cool immediately with cold water.

Drain and place open side down on paper towels.

In a medium bowl, combine the rest of ingredients except the spaghetti sauce.

Reserve the 1/4 cup of Mozzarella.

Place a thin layer of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a 12 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spoon the cheese mixture into each pasta shell and place open side up, in a single layer, in prepared pan.

Pour the rest of sauce over the stuffed shells.

Loosely cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

During last 5 minutes of baking, remove foil and sprinkle remaining Mozzarella cheese on top.

Bake 5 more minutes.

Garnish with fresh chopped basil.

After Dinner Snack

Frozen Yogurt from Orange Leaf (a chocolate fix!!) Cookie Cake and Brownie Batter Frozen Yogurt Chocolate Caramel Turtles, Heath Bars, Reeses Cups, and Chocolate Chips I only ate half and brought the other half home.  :)
After Snack Entertainment

  There is this house by our's that does a light show with music and we stopped by for a couple of songs.  The photo doesnt do it justice, it is too cool!!  They take donations and the money is donated to a local food pantry, they are even cooler in my book now.  :)
~Jessica

FitBit Update #3

Fitbit Update for the Week

Goals:
10,000 steps
10 flights of stairs
5.00 miles in distance
2387 calories burned
1000 activity goal

Wednesday (11/28):

• Steps: 7227
• Stairs: 17
• Distance: 3.02 
• Calories Burned: 2100
• Activity Goal: 639

Thursday (11/29):

• Steps: 9379
• Stairs: 21
• Distance: 3.92 
• Calories Burned: 2312
• Activity Goal: 849

Friday (11/30):

• Steps: 5162
• Stairs: 12
• Distance: 2.16 
• Calories Burned: 2048
• Activity Goal: 588

Saturday (12/1):

• Steps: 9222
• Stairs: 13
• Distance: 3.85 
• Calories Burned: 2350
• Activity Goal: 887

Sunday (12/2):

• Steps: 6043
• Stairs: 7
• Distance: 2.52 
• Calories Burned: 2101
• Activity Goal: 640

Monday (12/3):

• Steps: 10392
• Stairs: 27
• Distance: 4.35 
• Calories Burned: 2304
• Activity Goal: 841

Eh, is all I can say for my progress the last week.  I can tell you that I am not too happy with my progress.  I know I can do more, I just get tired from getting up so early for work and working and whatever else I have to do at home.  Im starting to consider setting my alarm 30 minutes earlier than I wake up (that would be 4:45am) to walk on the treadmill in the morning to get some steps in before work.....its just tough to think about waking up even earlier than I already do!  I'm still not sure what I will do.  Here's hoping I can keep my motivation up and keep me moving to hit my goals!

~Jessica

Weekend Recap

Happy December!!

Where oh where did you go weekend?!?

As always, it went by wayyy too fast!

Friday night - We spent the evening hanging out and catching up on whatever TV shows we didn't get to throughout the week; Jersey Shore and 2 episodes of Raising Hope.  Dinner consisted of Breakfast:  Waffles and Turkey Bacon.  Andy wasn't feeling too good, so we spent a lot of time on the couch.  :)  I like couch evenings!

Saturday - lots of cleaning happening in my household.  Vacuumed the whole house, bathrooms cleaned, laundry started and almost completed (I'd like to add that all of the clothes are clean and put away by Sunday night, go me!) and took an hour long walk around the neighborhood with Keeley.  The temperature remained around 70 degrees that day, very unseasonably warm.  I spent the evening running around with my mom and sister picking up some more Christmas gifts.  I am almost complete with my Christmas shopping!!!!  YAY!!

Sunday - the ever fun shopping with my mom.  We did the usual, lunch, Target and Grocery Store!  We also included in our trip to JCPenneys.  I found some slippers for Andy for $6!  I thought, if he didn't like them, I can always return them, but $6 for slippers, score!! And you know what, he loved them!!  They are also still giving out those buttons that you enter the code into their website to see if you won anything, I won $15 in certificates!!  So excited!  We went to Qdoba for lunch and I got the pick 2, quesadilla and 3 cheese nachos.  The nachos were awesome, the quesadilla, eh...not so awesome.  I ate too much, a big no no for me with the diet.  I way over indulged this weekend and am feeling the consequences today (Monday).  

Lets take a look and see if I achieved all the goals for the weekend I set for myself on Friday:

• Saturday cleaning day (Check!!)
• Laundry (Check!!)
• Finish sewing the squares to my Christmas table runner (yeah, I didn't touch my sewing machine, I was having trouble with it last week and didn't want to deal with it over the weekend)
• Get my Nintendo Wii and DS sold on Craigslist (annoyed with this, 3 people emailed me on Saturday about the DS, I emailed the first person, gave her a day to respond back and she didn't.  Same thing Sunday.  I emailed the third person this morning, so here's hoping!!  I'm a bit annoyed with this whole selling on Craigslist thing)
• Sunday Shopping with the Mama  (Check!!)
• Finish Christmas Shopping (almost done!!)
• Take LONG walks around the neighborhood with Keeley  (Check!!)

As usual, weekend photos of the fur-babies:

Keeley was all cuddly on Andy while we watched a movie, it was too cute!

Mokes was hanging out in the hall closet, not too shabby of a photo on the iphone!  :) 

Have a great week everyone!

~Jessica

5 for Five #1

Happy Monday Morning!!

Today, I am linking up with 

Jenn at Party of One and Jessica at Fantastically Average 

for my first, 5 for Five!!!

The concept is fairly simple: 

1. Set five goals that you want to accomplish over the next five days of the work-week.  
2. Share your goals with all of Blogland.
3. Power through that list during the week.
4. Come back the next week to share you how did.
5. Set some more goals for yourself, and repeat!

Here goes nothing, my first 5 for Five!

1. Make dinner every single night this work week!  That's Monday through Friday!!  I think I can.  I made sure to make a list of what I actually need at the grocery store to make sure I am successful for this challenge this week.
2. Eat vegetables with at least every dinner I make.
3. Walk my goal of 10,000 steps everyday this week
4. Paint my finger and toe nails to Christmas colors!  (I finally took the orange off on Friday, just never got the repainted completed)
5. Finish Christmas shopping

Come back next Monday and let you know how I did!  :)

~Jessica