Crazy K!

John and I ran a 5K obstacle course for charity today!  My parents came and snapped some pics.  My only goal, after not training at all for this, was not to walk.  Even if you could walk faster than I was running, I wasn't going to walk.

Goal met.

John said he'd stay with me the whole time, and he did :-)  Although, he probably could have finished 10 minutes earlier if he didn't.  He's getting pretty good at this whole marriage thing!

I also want to add that huge positive for this event, which I am sure was very difficult to organize.  You know that gross, paper-thin toilet paper that most large public places use?  It comes on one big roll and the holder is that big black monstrosity?   Well, the Champaign County Fair Ground's bathroom was no exception, however the people that put on the event bought Quilted Northern and put it in each stall!  They also bought REAL hand soap and put it with every sink instead of that runny pink stuff that takes forever to leather up.  Man, that was impressive.  Well done, event organizers, well done.  Like I've said before, it's all in the details.

And we're off!

Smile for Pops!

Hay stacks! 

We rocked this girl.

Foam slide!

Loved it, clearly.

Finished! 

The Dream Team.

Bananas.

Where I Wanna Be

John and I really want to move somewhere before we start procreating.  We just want to experience something different for a little while.  I feel like once we have kids, we won't be doing a lot of moving!  I was recently thinking of all the things I would want in a town, if I could choose.  This is the list of things..

1.  Trader Joe's:  healthy, organic food at a good price.  Why wouldn't that be on my list?

2.  Whole Foods:  because I won't get everything at Trader Joe's and this is the next awesomest thing.

3.  A gym where I can work out next to older people and not 30-year-old guys clearly on steroids, drinking a protein shake, trying to impress all the 18-year-old girls that read a magazine on the elliptical for 3 hours.

4.  Some place with people that aren't crazy liberal or crazy conservative.  I don't want to go the grocery store and hear about how the president is screwing up our country or to the farmer's market and hear about pro-abortion rallies.  Or hear my patient talking about how bad the hospital is and saying, "well, I guess I'm getting a taste of Obamacare."  Because that let's me know that you have no idea what you're talking about and I feel like I'm drowning in a room of awkwardness and don't know how to surface.

5.  Somewhere with a legit hospital.  I gotta work, ya know.

6.  Somewhere with a great church, but without the overly-enthusiastic worship leader-guy that's always smiling.  Always.  I know you love God, but are you really that excited.. like, all the time?

7.  A college town.  I love living in a college town, people from literally everywhere live in CU.  I love meeting new people with completely different backgrounds.  Plus, I get used to the students being here in the fall, winter, and spring, so I have something to look forward to in the summer... you know, not almost hitting a pedestrian on their cell phone walking in the middle of the street who then flicks me off.

8.  A place with an airport that's not real small.  John and I are trying to step up our travel-game.

9.  Somewhere with a pizza place almost as good as Papa Del's.  It doesn't have to be as good because, come on, we all know that's not real.

10.  Rita's:  because I know Rita's is in heaven, and therefore I want to be as close to heaven as possible.

11.  IKEA:  although sometimes I think I should live as far away from one as possible so that I don't go broke in 4 months.

12.  Some place WARM.  I don't want to need a snow blower.  I would like a white Christmas, but not a 17-below zero Christmas. 

13.  Some place with something historical or somewhere within driving distance of some place kinda cool.  I like history, but here's only so many times you can go to Lincoln's tomb. 

So, if you will kindly Google all of these things for me and get back to me with a list of potential places, I'd appreciate that.  Just not Chicago.  I think literally all of those things, except the winter and Rita's thing, are in or around  Chicago.  No offense, Chicago is cool, but it's the last place I want to live.  I get too stressed around there.  I hate the traffic of the burbs, getting around the city, the cost of living, and just how busy it all is.  I enjoy a good visit, but not having my address there.  I expect a spreadsheet with places, cost of living, distance, population, and the percentage of my preferences that each place meets.  You have two hours.

Show Me the Butter Baby!

Last night I went to a lecture at Personal Performance about the most delicious thing in the world ... FAT!  David, a personal trainer, and Deborah, a family doctor, gave the talk.  The purpose was to inform and enlighten about the importance of fat in ones diet.

We have grown up under the assumption that saturated fat is bad for you.  It's a the top of FDA-approved food pyramid.  It is suggested that only 7-10% of your diet should come from fats.   However, fat is necessary for every single one of the cells in your body to function.  Back in the day, a few flawed studies (Framingham Heart Study, the Kritchevsky Rabbits, and thus the Lipid Hypothesis Theory) were widely published, which cited a correlation between increased fat intake and increased coronary artery disease.  A bad diet high in cholesterol leads to atherosclerosis, which leads to coronary artery disease, and finally death.  Therefore, the FDA, American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, and additional groups promoted low-fat diets.  However, after years of low fat diets, (1954 to today) obesity and heart disease are still on the rise and are still the leading cause of death.  However, it is not a disputed fact that your cells are made of cholesterol and it is necessary healthy function.

Why cholesterol is important*:

• It's part of your cell membranes, which keeps them healthy and functioning properly
• It is a repairing and healing substance 
• It's the back bone of your hormones
• It is vital to brain function and to your nervous system
• It protects against depression because it makes and utilizes serotonin
• Cholesterol is the precursor of vitamin D 
• It's an antioxidant, which protects against free radicals, and therefore against cancer

So, what can cause heart disease if cholesterol doesn't?  There are a lot of theories, but because there not much funding for research that goes against claims of major, well-funded organization and would also mean there is no need for cholesterol-lowering medications (statins).  Such theories include vitamin deficiencies, trans fat intake, mineral deficiencies, and stress. 

Most people that go to the doctor get a lipid panel drawn at some point.  If you cholesterol is over 200, the doc will usually recommend you to be put on a cholesterol-lowering medication to decrease your risk of coronary artery disease.  The danger with these medications is that they basically prevent your liver from producing cholesterol all together.   I'm not a doctor or a medical researcher by any means, but stopping your body from producing something it needs to function sounds like not a great idea.  Also, the liver has a million different functions as well.  If you stop your body from producing cholesterol in the liver, then what else could it be doing in the process? 

Basically, I came away from the lecture feeling informed and happy that my butter is good for me.  I absolutely love butter, mayo, and sour cream.  They did a little demo on making your own salad dressing, showed us some trusted brands to buy, and promoted butter (yay!).  They were advocating the consumption of all natural foods and eating meat, butter, and eggs from grass-fed animals.  Butter is natural and has been used for hundreds and hundreds of years and margarine has NOT.  It is synthetic, made in a lab, and not that different from plastic.  It contains free radials, bleach, artificial flavors, and sterols. Heart disease has not been around as long as butter.. so why would that be the cause?  The first recorded heart attack was in 1912 but butter has been on the scene for thousands of years.  Hhuummmm....

Take away points:  

• Butter = good
• Margarine and other partially hydrogenated oils = bad
• Eat natural fats, don't be concerned with the cholesterol number
• Examples of good fat are butter, coconut oil, palm oil, EVOO, nuts, avocados, and flax oil
• Trans fat = bad
• Eat as close to natural as possible, then you get all the nutrients intended because when things are processed, you lose the nutrients

More reading
http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com
http://www.westonaprice.org
Eat Fat, Lose Fat: the Healthy Alternative to Trans Fat by Mary G. Enig and Sally Fallon
Know Your Fats:  the Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol by Mary G. Enig

The next lecture by David and Deborah will be October 3rd at Personal Performance!

*Information came from:  Myths & Truths about Cholesterol by the Weston A. Price Foundation, 2010.

Personally Performing

As many of you know, my mother and father in law own a successful business in town.  It's called Personal Performance.  They do training and rehab and train a lot of high performance athletes in the area.  I trained there in high school and during college.  I work out there about 3 times a week right now.  I love it.  I get a great workout but I also know I'm not hurting my body with bad form, lifting the wrong way, or over training.  You have to be careful about things like P90X, yoga, or just running 3-5 times a week.  That repetition can hurt your body.  A lot of yoga poses are dangerous, cause injury, and are not helping/strengthening your body. Weight training correctly and doing cardio workouts are essential to living healthy and you can get both at Personal Performance.

In addition to training athletes, they also do rehab for work-related injuries and consults for various issues.  They have a nutritional focus as well.  Doug, John's dad, reads blood, suggests different natural supplements and does nutritional counseling.  They also have a few massage therapists on staff as well.  When I had some bad knee problems in high school, they helped tremendously.  I also have gotten my neck worked on by one of their massage therapists.

Doug used to play football and baseball for the Illini in the 70's and was also a member of the Cleveland Brown's until a career ending knee injury.  John's mom was also ballin on the Illini volleyball team as well.  They are both great trainers, especially for local high school athletes with aspirations to play at the collegiate level. 

This is an outside view of the gym.  It's located on Lincoln Ave in Urbana, right across from Capstone Apartments, near the intersection of Bradley and Lincoln.

View of the main gym area

View of the second gym area, a recent addition. It looks great!

They also have a wall of fame.  So many athletes have trainer here, from football players to dancers, they have trained a lot of different types of athletes.

Part of one Wall of Fame

Dougie K during his Illini days!

Local athletes that train at PP in the news!

Wall-O-Vitamins

Quinoa Tabbouleh Creation

John's mom always makes Syrian food for special occasions and an important staple to that meal is tabbouleh.  Typically, it's made with bulgur, which is a whole grain.  However, John's dad, sister and John don't tolerate wheat well and she started making it with quinoa.  Quinoa is delicious.  I love it.  It's a complete protein, gluten free, and beyond good for you.  It's also really easy to make.  Essentially, you make it the same way as rice.  It goes with a lot of different things, but we've been adding sauteed vegetables with some olive oil and it's so yummy.  I looked up a recipe online for quinoa tabbouleh and made that recently for dinner.  It was super, super easy.  Here are my ingredients:

carrots, parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes, sea salt, green onions, lemon juice, olive oil, and quinoa.

I just boiled 2 cups of water, added a cup of dry quinoa and brought it to a boil.  I reduced it to a simmer, then covered it and took it off the heat for 15 minutes.  Fluffed it with a fork, and set it aside to cool.

Then I got out my Magic Bullet and separately chopped up the carrots, parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes, and green onions.

Veggies!

Veggies + cooked quinoa

I took all of the vegetables and threw them in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and some fresh ground pepper just for the fun of it.  I made it about an hour before dinner so I just put it in the fridge.

MMMmm.....

Quinoa tabbouleh, chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese and artichoke hearts, and a spinach salad!

It was definitely easy and really, really good for you.  We will be making that on the regular.

One Year Celebration

Yesterday was John's day to celebrate our anniversary.  It started with him making me a yummy breakfast.  Coffee, OJ, bagel, and eggs with some salami and cheese. 

Next, he told me to get ready because I had an appointment at 11:15am.  He then dropped me off at Bodyworks for a 1-hour massage and told me someone would pick me up.  I didn't really think much of it, assumed he was making his brother come help him and went and enjoyed my massage.  I walked outside at 12:30 pm and saw this guy walking up ...

Monty!

Monty driving me around!

 He introduced himself as Monty and said he would be my driver for the day.  He said we were going to Tuscola to the outlet stores to go shopping.  Monty said that he had been working with my husband, John, and he gave him instructions to get me specific things I had been wanting/needing lately.  I cleaned up pretty well!  He also made sure to bring the appropriate water cup for the day:

The bride cup we got as a wedding gift!

When we got back he said we had some time to kill before dinner and we could do whatever we wanted.  I said I wanted to rearrange our bedroom.  John says I'm just like Monica from Friends.  Well, maybe that proves it since that was what I wanted to do most.  The last time we traveled, I did tell John that one of the reasons that I enjoy traveling was because it tests my organizing capabilities.

Back to our day.. I jumped in the shower to get ready for dinner and when I got out of the shower, I saw this:

A homemade sign and all of our anniversary cards that we have received recently!

Here is a close-up of the sign if you can't read it..

pLace - where it's ok to sleep with your waiter!

One red rose for one year.

Bathroom sign.

My chef, hard at work.

 

He made me a delicious dinner, we had some yummy red wine, and enjoyed the evening together.  I would say he did a great job!  I'm taking him out this Wednesday for my celebration, so stay tuned..

Latest iPod Playlist

Count on Me - Bruno Mars
Let it Be - the Beatles
Samson - Regina Spektor
Blackbird - the Beatles
Words I Never Said - Lupe Fiasco
Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Hey Jude - the Beatles
Blackbird - the Beatles
The Longer I Run - Peter Bradley Adams
Beautiful Things - Gungor
Lead me to the Cross - Hillsong
Act Naturally - the Beatles
I've Just Seen a Face - the Beatles
Laughing With - Regina Spektor

Completely Content

Tonight was one of those nights when you're driving at dusk with all the windows down, the temperature is perfect, the breeze is slight but sufficient, and the world just feels right.  I was driving down University Avenue, home from my parents house, and I just felt completely content.  I feel like everyone from here is always wanting to move on, go somewhere bigger and better, and get away.  Sometimes I feel that urge, but I didn't tonight.  As I passed Lil Porgy's, listening to my Beatles, Regina Spektor, and Peter Bradley Adams mix, I sighed, reflecting on just how happy I was to be right where I was.

I passed Carle Hospital, where I work, and was thankful for my job.  Thankful for the amazing, supportive, uplifting, and hilarious coworkers. I was thankful that I enjoy my job, not dreading work in the morning, but happy to be a part of that team.  As I drove, I looked down at the ring my best friend gave me and was thankful that I was going home to him.  I passed the vacuum store at the corner of University and First and smiled at their Jesus sign.  I went down First street, towards the sand volleyball courts and passed the apartment complex in which one of my best friend's from college lived and remembered how much I loved being there.  I remember the fun from college, but appreciated where God has me right now.  Content to be in Champaign-Urbana, completely happy with the friends we have made here, our jobs, and the home we've made.  I know we would like to move at some point, but tonight I was reminded to be thankful for the now and the where.  I dislike it when people make it seem as if staying in CU means you haven't gone anywhere, because tonight's 10 minute drive reminded me that I'm right where the Lord wants to me to be.

Basketballin

With John being a college basketball coach and working on getting into another school to to further his basketball career, I feel another family member's basketball abilities are being forgotten.  Another Kleber has had a life full of basketball and thought you might want to take a little stroll down basketball memory lane:

A 5'5" 6th grader ...

Senior year of high school

The official photo

AAU basketball during high school summers

ECI Shooters

Note the broken fingers.

Parkland College 2006-2007

Action shot!

I waited until the last day of practice to do this.

Some of my IWC teammates when we went out the first weekend of school

I had kind of an odd basketball timeline.  Here's the short version.  I played all through high school and wanted to play in college.  Senior year I decided I was burnt out and done.  I went to Illinois State for a semester for Elementary Education.  I decided that I didn't want to be a teacher and therefore didn't want to waste money at ISU if I didn't know what I wanted to do.  I was thinking nursing, but not sure.  So I made plans to come back to Champaign and go to Parkland until I figured out my major.  I moved in with Aimee Houchens, Christy Luth, and Megan Riggs, who were all Parkland softball players.  After I was living there for a little while, the Parkland women's basketball coach called me and offered me a scholarship.  I accepted and played for a season.  I could have stayed another season because of my eligibility, but knew that would set me back a year academically.

I was recruited by Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, IA and was deciding between going there and going to Bradley and major in nursing.  I decided to go to IWC because they would let me play basketball and do nursing.  They did tell me how difficult it would be juggling a demanding major and playing collegiate basketball.  During that first semester, we had 5 am work outs and late practices on top of clinicals and ridiculous amount of homework and tests.  At that point, I decided that my career was more important than basketball, and if I was to screw up on my classes and have to retake anything, it wouldn't be worth it because it would set me back an entire year academically.  It was take me 6 years to get a 4 year degree if I messed this up because I wanted to play basketball.  Right before finals of that first semester at IWC, I quit.  It was a really difficult, but necessary decision.  I was missing games for clinicals and not playing in the other games because I wasn't at the last one and falling asleep in class daily.

So, now you know my basketball story!  Since quitting in 2008, I've had very little desire to play at all.  I've been beyond burnt out.  A few high school and college teammates of mine did play in a rec league in Urbana a few summers ago, and that was really fun.  But other than that, I'm done.  I no longer own basketball shoes and am pretty happy about that.

More Products I Love..

1-800-Contacts:  I can get my contacts cheaper, shipped for free, and buy a year supply at a time.  I've had a few prescription issues as well and their customer service is top-notch.  I can get an entire year of contacts for $330.  That's less than $1/day for daily contacts, which is way cheaper than getting them at my eye doctor.  Plus I don't have to worry about getting a box every other month.

Keurig K Cups:  We got this coffee machine at work and I am obsessed with it.  I just haven't wanted to spend the $180 on one for our house yet.  You make individual cups of amazing coffee in tons of delicious flavors.  I just got a box of iced tea as well which is almost as fabulous.

Moroccan Oil:  This stuff makes your hair feel like you just left the salon.  Love this stuff.  You put a dime-sized amount on your palm, rub hands together, then work into your hair just after a shower but before a blow-dry.  I think my bottle was $7, but I'm not sure which brands are best with this stuff.

Thick Cloth Headbands:  I could never get headbands to stay on my head before.  But between the Moroccan oil and these awesome headbands, they stay put.  I love wearing them at work.  No more bobby pins for me! It was $6 for 6 of them in a pack.

Quinoa:  This is like rice, but a lot better for you.  You can use it in a lot of things you'd use rice for and make it basically the same way.  We made some with sauteed vegetables and John and I both really liked it.  It was super easy to make and really healthy.  I think a box was $3.99 at Schnuck's.

Frozen Tilapia Filets:  You can buy a bag of these for $7.50 and I figured out an easy and quick way to prepare them.  Defrost in a bowl of warm water, coat in olive oil, throw salt, pepper, garlic salt, and coat in Parmesan cheese.  Bake in a glass pan, coated in olive oil at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  So. Yummy.  So. Easy.  Have I already mentioned this before?  Probably.  But it's definitely worth mentioning at least 4 times.. stay tuned. 

LL Bean Tote Bags:  These things last forever, are really durable, and you can use them everyday.  I got them for my bridesmaids (and I got one for myself!) for the wedding.  I got their names embroidered on them as well and got the ones with the extra long straps, which is nice in the winter when you're wearing a coat.  If you order online, they ship everything for free.  No minimum order.  Other than Zappos.com, I think this is the only website that I use that offers free shipping with no minimum order.  Plus they have a lot of colors available too.  Click here to check them out!

One Year Wedding Anniversary

John and I recently shared our one year anniversary!  We were in Chicago for the weekend and wanted to get back home to celebrate, but were unable.  We got home late that night and decided to celebrate later in the month.  We also forgot the only one year anniversary tradition that has been sitting in our freezer this entire time; the cake!  Don't worry, we remembered and did it the next night but wow.. gluten-free cake that's been frozen for a year is just as delicious as it sounds.  It was bad.  I mean bad.  Just before the wedding, we had a little scare and thought John had a gluten allergy, so we had our cake lady make the cake without gluten.  I mean, look at how much we ate the night of the wedding..

We barely ate a bite each.

This is no knock on our cake lady, the cup cakes that night were amazing.  Gluten-free cake is just not the best no matter what you do.  We also had 3 cup cakes left over and tried those too.  Not quiet as bad, but still gross enough to spit it out too.

John definitely got me back though for surprising him at the wedding and smashing the cake in his face.  He was not happy with me because I made a huge deal about how I hated it when people did that at weddings and didn't want him to.  I had a last minute change of heart and smeared gluten-free cake in his face.  I do not regret that decision.

Boo.

I also looked a few wedding items one year later too!  Immediately after the wedding, my mom hung my bouquet upside down from the mantle and we left it there for a while.  It dried perfectly and we have it in a vase on a bookshelf in our home.  John's boutonniere also dried nicely! 

White roses turned yellow.

We also had to clean out our closet recently and I threw a bunch of stuff out.  But I did come across the fly-est dress you ever did see.. 

I love the look on John's face whenever he sees this dress.  Too bad I don't have a picture of that. 

Yay for anniversary cards!

John's doing his anniversary day next Saturday and I'm doing mine later in the month.  We are surprising each other, so I'm pretty pumped to see what he's been working on.  He's been pretty sneaky lately..