Twilight, Anyone?

So, for Christmas, I got a juicer. Before any of you skeptics and naysayers go all "cray-cray" (That means crazy for those 14 years and older), I did so merely to add the nutrients and vitamins of juiced fruit and veggies to my meals. I am not a veggie freak. I will never be a vegetarian. I like my meat and potatoes a little too much.

But, I digress, as a teacher, drinking juice jam-packed with fruits and veggies is a lot more realistic than eat 5-6 small meals a day. So, here is the experiment, can I replace just 1 (only 1, you anti-detoxesrs) to add a little more to my normal "all-in-moderation" fare? I'm not being radical, just trying to make healthier choices for a healthier mind, body, and soul.

I'm an elementary teacher and Mary Poppins is my role model, so I believe everything should have "an element of fun"!

First smoothie recipe I tried has been called the "Shrek Smoothie" (<---- that's fun!). Recipe? Shmecipe! No formal measurements here! Just blended a handful of spinach, half a banana, a tangerine, and some mixed frozen fruit. Nothing fancy there! (See picture at the end of post, still don't know how to move stuff around in the Blogger app..)

Next, a juicer recipe I compiled from all the YouTube videos I watched this morning.

The Twilight Twister or The Aggie Bomb (See the picture at the bottom to see why I choose this name)
1 beet
1 Granny Smith Apple
3 med carrots
1 handful of Kale (<---- I'm "branching" out!)
1 lemon
1 knob of ginger root

The beet turned everything a dark red, pretty much maroon. Which either looked like something Edward Cullen would feast on or what a die hard Aggie fan would drink. Either way, I'm cool with it. 👍

Taste: This one was VERY different. Starts out VERY tart (thanks, lemons and GS apples) and then ends on a very earthy note, like dirt-earthy. I don't know if I didn't wash the veggies thoroughly enough or if that's just what Kale tastes like. I would describe it like a sour bomb going off in your mouth and then crashing down to the ground. Sounds appetizing, right???? Well, I like it and I will make it again with a little less lemon and wash my veggies better.

In the Beginning...

Happy 2013 Y'all!

This is the first New Years me and the hubs have celebrated for (I think?) 3 years. Every year he's had to play in the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band (WHOOP!) at the AdvoCare Bowl and the Cotton Bowl. So glad we get to spend it together eating one of my first freezer-to-crockpot meals He said I could cook that anytime... I'm really enjoying "impressing" him with my kitchen shortcuts! I'll create another post with the recipes I tried this week. :)

We also had a romantic New Year's Eve of watching Brave and playing Battleship. Hubby had to wake me up at 11:50pm to watch the ball drop together. I was none too excited that my beauty sleep was interrupted, but years down the road we will always remember that, right? Then we stared out our patio trying to watch the fireworks go off around us. A storm was about to come in, so it was foggy, misty, and cloudy. We saw a few fireworks, but mainly is just sounded like a war-zone!

New Year's Day, we took down Christmas and headed to Hershey Park to explore the bike trails with our new Christmas bikes. AWESOME! My legs were so sore, and my new workout gear was all muddy from the trails, but all in all, a great outing and an excuse not to workout that night!

No pictures to document because of 2 things:
1. I always forget to take them, and
2. Larry hates it when I go all "paparazzi" on him

First 2013 Resolution? Take more pictures!

Alpha Dogs 5K

Today we ran the Mistletoe 5K at the Bridgeland housing community here in Cypress. The run was put on by Run Over Cancer to benefit a little girl named Raelyn who is suffering from cancer.

Why did we run it? I help coach a boys running club at McFee Elementary and we have been training the boys to be able to run 3.1 miles since the beginning of October. I'm proud to say that all 30+ of the boys finished in under 45 minutes, and one of the boys in my home room class had the second fastest time of 24 minutes!

I finished in 31 minutes and Larry finished in 34 minutes. It was tons of fun and now I'm pumped to try for a half marathon!

Decking the Halls

We are ready for Santa's arrival at the Sullivan Casa! He has made an early stop, as you can see by the few gifts under the tree. I'm sure he'll be back again by Christmas!

No More Sleeping in the Floor!

Not me and Larry, but our guests! Whenever we have had guests in our new apartment, poor things, had to sleep on our blow up mattress. :(

Now, we have a beautiful, practically new bed that one of our church ladies had just bought for her house, and needed to get rid of it when she downsized. What a blessing for us! It's perfect and exactly what I would have picked out in a store!

The Sullivan B&B is open for business!

Welcome to Texas A&M University at McFee Elementary!

 This is where my student work is posted! Each of the clothespins represent each of the school's in the SEC!

 My behavior management system. If they "maroon out" and don't have to change a color, they earn a letter of "HOWDY". Once they have earned the whole word, the whole class gets a Reveille Reward!

 Our Social Contract with the Aggie Code of Honor tied into it.

Granger Sullivan

Granger Sullivan- named after the singer/songwriter of the famous "We Bleed Maroon" Aggie anthem

He's a genius pup, I tell ya'! He LOVES water bottles! He will entertain himself with one FOREVER! When asked where is "bottle" is, he runs and gets it! Such a smarty pants. We are so proud. Now, if we could only get him to improve the statistics on his accidents....