It’s snowing in Manhattan, KS today! Big, fluffy, beautiful snowflakes. I love snow, ironically I don’t like being cold so much, but I love being cozied up the couch with my fuzzy, warm blankets next to fireplace and watching all that lovely snow fall. Right now, the kiddos are all still napping and I’m watching the wind whip around my front yard, forming the occasional snow tornado. The backyard looks so peaceful when it’s covered in snow…when spring comes you’ll have to keep a tally of how often I complain about the stupid voles destroying my grass back there…but for now, it’s all blanketed in glorious snow ❄️

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n with the weather, the delivery drivers are still out all around town — at my house, the guy had to load my new treadmill on a dolly and slip and slide up my snow-covered driveway. BUT IT'S HERE!!! If I can get caught up on cleaning and dishes tonight, I'm going to slide it down the stairs and set it up for a run tonight! It's a shame I just fixed my bike this weekend and now the weather is less than cooperative for me to use it for the first time in 8-9 years…oh well…

Last night we tried out a new recipe from my Skinnytaste cookbook, we tried the “Baked Pears with Greens, Blue Cheese, and Pecans.” This is definitely a keeper, sounds fancy, looks fancy, but very simple and inexpensive to throw together! Sorry, I forgot to snap a pick of anyone’s salad last night before they were all devoured! We paired that with one of our long-established favorites, “Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Spicy Thai Sauce” from the America’s Test Kitchen: Light & Healthy cookbook, I LOVE this cookbook and have used this so much that the hard cover has fallen off! This particular chicken recipe makes the BEST leftovers for lunch the next day! Also, we always serve it with rice so the rice can absorb that delicious Thai sauce.

I have been feeling the urge to snack lately (a lot), and yes, I know snacks are a healthy part of any diet, but not the kind of snackin’ I want to do! This is why the arrival of the new treadmill is coming at a great time, I need to be able to hop on and go for a walk/jog when I catch myself staring and drooling over a snack-size bag of gummy bears leftover from the kids’ Halloween candy. I also have a FitDesk, a simple, stationary bike with a desk so you can pedal while you work. I am going to gather my chords, power strip, and lap top and set up everything downstairs, so any time I need to do work on the laptop (or even binge watch shows on any of my various streaming services!), I can ride while doing so. I also bought the FitDesk Extension Kit so if I need more spaces to lay out papers or notes, I can strew them about as I need!

So, for my inaugural treadmill run (hopefully tonight, but if not then tomorrow for sure), I think I’m going to set my goal to do the distance of a 5K, not matter how much time it takes or how often I have to alternate between walking and jogging. And then muuuuuuuch much much stretching and hydrating!

To close out , my 30-Day Song Challenge for today, the 22nd, is a song that moves me forward…I’m going to go with an oldie from my childhood, ya know, waaaay back in the 80’s, “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder. Did you know he did the voice of Ling in the movie Mulan? And he has produced a TON of artists since he left his solo career, good job Matt!

~~ Amie