Couch to 5K

I got a great email from a Sasha Says reader the other day:

Hi Sasha-

You clued me in to Couch to 5k a few years ago and even were kind enough to send me your spreadsheet. I stopped and started a few times but finally followed through. I ran my first 5k today and owe it in large part to you.

Thanks!
Ellen

That little spreadsheet has been emailed around hundreds of times and I love love love hearing about other moms who have followed the plan (taken from http://www.coolrunning.com/) and ran a 5K.

When I started the plan on my treadmill about 7 years ago, I had a rough time keeping track of when I was supposed to run and when I was supposed to take a walk break. So the accountant in me created a spreadsheet to help me keep track.

This week I uploaded the spreadsheet, which shows the 9 week plan detailed with stop/start times for running versus walking, to a google doc to make it easier to access.

Couch to 5K Spreadsheet

If you've used the Couch to 5K plan, I'd love to hear your story! I am planning on running my first half marathon in December with Beth from C. Beth Blog, and I am so excited to have come so far on my running journey. If you've got some motivation for me, leave it in the comments.

Join Amazon Mom to get Prime Shipping

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If you are going to take advantage of some of the fabulous Amazon Christmas shopping deals I'll be sharing (and trust me, they will be FANTASTIC!)- you're going to need Prime so you can jump on small deals and have them shipped instantly, without having to worry about getting to $25 for free shipping.

Clicking the link above will get you a membership in Amazon Mom, which gives you 3 free months of Amazon prime, just in time for Christmas!

Happy Shopping!

Real Simple Says..... One Easy Shortcut

photo and text from Real Simple (September 2010), page 62

The Fastest Way to Frost a Cupcake

Try this sweet, no-icing-necessary method. When your cupcakes have about three minutes left to bake, pull out the tin and place one marshmallow on top of each cupcake. Return the tin to the oven for the remaining time (or until the marshmallows are slightly melted but still fluffy).

Sasha Says...

Genius

Look who finally lost a tooth!

We were beginning to think the Sasha family brushed teeth way too well.

At 7 years and 2 months old, P was feeling quite left out since he had not yet lost a tooth.

That was remedied last night when he lost not one, but two!

We heard the going rate was a $1 per tooth (is this right?) so that's what the tooth fairy left him and he was excited and dashed into the bathroom this am while I was drying my hair to show me.

Another milestone...... he's growing up way too fast for my tastes, though.

SPD: 30 Stories in 30 Days

Through blogging, I "met" the most wonderful mom and blogger named Hartley, who is the author of This is Gabriel Making Sense of School: A Book About Sensory Processing Disorder.

Hartley had a wonderful idea for a fundraiser: she asked SPD moms like me to share their story on her blog to raise awareness about SPD, and she's doing a fundraising project for SPD Foundation’s 30th Anniversary at the same time.

How can you help?

First, head on over to read our family's story at Hartley's Life With Three Boys, which is the featured story today. I'll be reading the comments there throughout the day and would love to recognize some names! Should you feel led to make a donation to the SPD Foundation, just put my name in the comments section of the PayPal form to let Hartley know you are a friend of the Sashas.

Next, will you spread the word about our story on your facebook and twitter accounts? Simple links to my post at Hartley's blog would be wonderful!

Thanks for following our SPD story! I appreciate it more than you know!

Having fun with the camera

I know this breaks the photography rules since the space to the left doesn't matter and should have been framed with her on the left edge, but I love the look in her eyes. And she wasn't even posing, just a shot I caught. (Oh, but that poor underbite.... starting to get my pocketbook ready.)

*This* cheesy little smile is what she does when she poses.... I had a great time playing with the settings on my camera, trying different things to figure out what worked. These two ornery little girls almost lost us moms in the corn maze.... we had to run to find them!

Would you vote for The Wild Child?

I just entered this photo of Reese (The Wild Child) in the Fancy Nancy Fantastic Fan Photo Contest.

Could you take a second to vote for her? I absolutely love that she dressed herself for the pool, and also love that she wore a football jersey to school the next day- she's a bit prissy, a bit of a tomboy, and I love her just the way she is!

Pumpkin Patch

We stopped by our church's pumpkin patch the other night and the kids had a great time pulling the wagon around picking out their pumpkins.

I am SO ready for fall! The mornings have been nice and cool, but it's still warming up to the mid-70s by afternoon. Come on October, bring us your weather!

Mystery Solved re: Fancy Nancy

Last night the I was reading the newest Fancy Nancy book (Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique) to the kids and we were delighted to find out the answer to a question that has been haunting us for ever... her sister's name!

One the last page of the book, it is revealed to be...

JoJo!

Phew! I can finally sleep at night! :-)

With this recipe, I will rule the world

Last week I saw a fabulous recipe for Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes on Kevin and Amanda's blog and knew the perfect occasion to make it: a birthday celebrate at work.

And I've got to tell you- they are amazing! I am eating one as we speak.

Here's what the finished product looks like:


I do have to disclose that I am all about the semi-homemade, so I used a tub of premade Pillsbury cookie dough, a boxed cake mix, and canned frosting. Nothing to be ashamed of!

1. I took a vanilla cake mix and mixed it as directed. I filled my muffin tins about 2/3 full, as Amanda suggested.

2. Next, I plopped a frozen ball of cookie dough in the middle of each cup. (Earlier that morning, I had used a Pampered Chef scoop and made some cookie dough balls, which I placed in the freezer for about 10 hours.)

This is what it looked like before I put them in the oven. The cookie dough sinks to the bottom as the cake bakes.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for about 16-18 minutes.

4. Once they were cooled, I frosted with Betty Crocker Whipped Butter Cream frosting (amazing BTW!) and sprinkled mini chocolate chips on top.

I am ever-so-grateful to Amanda for sharing this fabulous recipe idea with her readers. This is definitely going to be a signature dessert and my next dessert contest entry.

The One Where I Embarrass My Husband

Images from NICOclub

Recently our family was down visiting my parents, who live in the town where I met my husband during college. He played football there and during his playing career the team won the National Championship- it was so exciting!

It was Sunday afternoon and we were about to get on the road to head home, but first he wanted to take The Politician down on field and show him where he played. As we walked out on the field, I glanced up in the visitor stands and saw a beautiful sight- tons of discarded bottles of Coke!

See, I'm a tad bit crazy with my couponing and point-earning and Coke caps are some of my favorites! I've already cashed in Coke reward points for DVDs for the kids, and recently got myself Season 4 of How I Met Your Mother. So when I saw all those bottles, I knew what I had to do...... I just couldn't resist!

My kids love a project and they were excited to help me gather up the bottles and carry them to the trash, first taking off the caps to keep. I thought my husband was going to kill me though! There's a track around the field that is often used by local residents for exercise, and the thought of someone seeing us gather up the caps was totally embarrassing my husband! It's so funny that I get embarrassed so easily normally, but I'm shameless about couponing and point programs!

So consider this the post where I ask you to send me your Coke codes if you aren't using them!

Holy Cuteness!

photo from Baby Meshach's etsy shop

A darling IRL friend of mine, Michelle, has just opened up an etsy shop for her precious handmade items.

Michelle recently did two custom orders for me for baby shower gifts and I couldn't have been more pleased! I have already heard from both moms-to-be that they loved their items! (One even said they may be too cute to use!)

Each gorgeous item (including clothes!) is adorned with beautiful bibles verses. You simply must visit her shop, which she describes as follows:

welcome to the baby meshach shop! i enjoy designing and creating baby blankets, bibs, burp cloths, and funky unique Christian clothing!

Happy Shopping!

Newest Foundation Find

Too Faced Amazing Face SPF Foundation Powder ($32 at Sephora)

For the past week or so, I've been trying out Too Faced's new powder foundation, which I purchased from Sephora, and I LOVE it!

Description from Sephora.com:

Go from sheer and natural to full and flawless with this flexible-coverage foundation. The weightless pigments float over imperfections to minimize the appearance of pores and fine lines, while instantly improving tone and texture. The formula contains the innovative Regu-Seb, which helps to control and reduce oil production and leaves skin looking fresh. It also features Bamboo Silk, a nutrient-rich ingredient that revives and renews the skintone to promote a balanced texture and impart a comfortable-feeling finish.

Rather than use the sponge it came with for application, I've been using a flat top brush and love the coverage it gives me- heavy enough to even out my skintone, but still light enough to look natural.

What foundation are you loving right now?

By the way, if you ever do order from Sephora, don't forget to go thru ebates for 4% back. And if you are new to ebates and register using my link, we each get $5 cash.

Photography Class

one of P's teammates at their soccer game last Saturday, photo by me!

I am loving my photography class! So nice to do something fun, for "me". Mr. Sasha encouraged me to sign up for the next class so I'll be doing another month.

We are headed south for the big game. Do you have big weekend plans? Hope you have a good one!

Dear Mike's Hard Lemonade,

Today I ran after a beer distributor guy at Target and asked him a very important question:

Where the hell are the Mike's Light Hard Cranberry Lemonade? The ones that only have 98 calories??? All I see on the Target shelves these days are the 220-250 calorie offenders.... and you and I both know we've already talked about those.

Mr. Beer Distributor Guy looked at me sadly and said,

"They've been discontinued."

I feel melancholy and infinite sadness.

Hard Core WW-ing It

I am hard core WW-ing it this week. If you are counting those pesky points too, you need to run to the store and pick up a few of the new Extra Dessert Delights flavors.

Yesterday I tried Mint Chocolate Chip and Key Lime Pie, and I swear it's just like you are nomming on a dessert right then and there. Bob and Jillian are always suggesting I pop a piece of gum when I have a sweet craving, but until now I wasn't sure that would work for me. After trying these, I think it just might!

C. Beth Crochet!

My friend Beth has gone all pro-fessional and opened herself up an Etsy shop called C. Beth Crochet for her adorable handmade hats. She recently made the hat pictured above for WC and we love it.

Give her a visit- her things are just gorgeous!

Weekend Update

The Politician played some soccer,

The Wild Child got her face painted at a Fall Festival,

and I did something quite a bit out of my comfort zone: led our Sunday school class.

We are currently using Michelle Nichol's book Sink or Walk on Water and it has been speaking to me, quite deeply.

If you've been a Sasha Says reader for any length of time, you have most likely read about my anxiety (it's a reoccurring theme around here). I've been struggling a bit more than usual lately, feeling guilty about my worrying and my internal struggles, which has done nothing but add another layer of anxiety to my load. I want to be different, I truly do, but I can't seem to find that switch, the one I can flip to shift the direction of thoughts in my brain.

But oh, Michelle spoke to me yesterday when I was leading from Day 1 of Week 4. On page 77, Michelle wrote,

"I do not know about you, but I've seldom been cheerful or glad during my trials. These verses do not tell us to be cheerful about our trials; they say be cheerful during our trials."

I realized yesterday that I need to separate out the feelings: I am allowed to spend some time thinking about the things that cause me anxiety, but I need to spend more time being grateful and having a heart that rejoices.

My verse for the week: 1 Peter 5:7: "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

Pre-Dinner Snack: Done!

The Wild Child and I just had a nice little pre-dinner snack at Sam's Club... complete with apple cider, pizza, string cheese, and a brownie. I love going there after I pick her up on Fridays because they start serving the goodies at 5.

You know you've done it too! (Surely I'm not the only one!) I spent $113 so it's totally OK to indulge, right?

Avon's Breast Cancer Awareness Tote

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Avon is offering this adorable tote for only $5. You can see above how small it folds up- I'm purchasing one to keep in my purse since I'm always forgetting my reusable shopping bags when I am just picking up a few items.

The best part- 100% of the net profits ($3.74) will be donated to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.

I order Avon from my friend Valeri (email her at bucfanri {at} gmail {dot} com and she may have a free shipping code for you!)

And don't forget to go through Ebates for a percentage back- plus, if you have never used ebates before, you get $5, and I get $5.