Kristy Maute

Some much needed Elevation

It’s no surprise to anyone how much I love the great outdoors. I’m at my best when it is just me and nature. Christian and I are completely in sync whenever we tackle an outdoor challenge. It’s the best date night we can plan for ourselves. It’s so much better than dinner and a movie. I love trees. I love breathing outside. I love the air and the openness that comes along with hiking along a trail and up a mountain. It’s relaxing. I feel reenergized. And there is nothing better than a night of sleeping under the stars after you’ve climbed a mountain.

This weekend we are doing all of the above. Tonight after work, we are packing up the truck and heading to Shenandoah National Park. While I’m a BIG fan of back country hiking/camping, the demands of pregnancy (for food and a comfortable place to sleep!) make me not too eager to live out of my backpack for 2 days. We are trying something new this time. We’ve reserved a camp site at Big Meadows Campground within the park. I can keep a cooler of plenty of healthy foods in the truck, and we can still enjoy sleeping in our tent. I can’t stomach the idea of eating dehydrated foods for 2 days straight right now. I want fresh fruit and salads, and I don’t want to carry 40 lbs around on my back. I want to sleep with my pillow. We can also bring our scrabble board – my all time favorite game! Roughing it can wait until after Maute Moo makes his/her grand debut into the world.

The plan for the weekend is to fall asleep with the sun and wake up with the sun. We are hiking/climbing/scrambling up Old Rag tomorrow morning bright and early. It’s an 8.8 mile (round-trip) hike and rock scramble with 2500 feet of elevation gain to the summit and back. Did I mention how excited I am? We haven’t done any scrambling since we were in Utah for our honeymoon over a year ago. There are also several other hikes close to the campground that take you to waterfalls. Seeing all the waterfalls in Virginia is on my must-do list so I will get to check a few off this weekend!

I can’t wait to breath in the sunshine and fresh air this weekend. Taking notice of the beautiful world we live in (and take for granted oh too often) and living along side of it is what I want my life to be about. Get outside this weekend and appreciate our planet. Get away from the strip malls, fast food joints, and bars. Find a local trail near your house. Enjoy your backyard. Notice all the hawks that are always perched on the light posts along the highway (They aren’t always buzzards!). If you live in Virginia Beach like I do, go to the beach and really appreciate it for its beauty. Our planet is a pretty amazing place!

I imagine I will be MIA from my blog until Sunday, but I promise a lot of pictures when I get back! Here is a little sneak peek that our good friends, Carrie and Jimmy, took when they hiked Old Rag last fall. Google it! Look it up! Put it on your list of things to do in Virginia! It’s claim to fame is that it’s the best hike/scrabble east of the Mississippi.

Maute Moo and Mama needs some Zzzzs….

sleepycow — I might be having too much fun with Cow pictures!

Last night I was completely exhausted. Remember when I posted my 40 day goals back on June 3rd. One of my goals was to not get stuck in “go” mode. Guess who got stuck in “go” mode? Me! No big surprise since I have to make it an actual goal to relax. I’ve been loving all my new-found energy (thank you 2nd trimester), and I’ve been loving all the progress I’ve been making on both our house and in my running. I don’t think I stopped once I got off of work on Friday. I just kept going. Running. Painting. Cooking. Swimming. Grilling out. That’s a lot of multitasking when your #1 task is to grow a baby!

At 8 o’clock last night my body had enough. I felt gross – not really nauseous, not really tired. My whole body just felt icky. I felt like a baby who is over-tired, can’t fall asleep, and doesn’t know what to do but whine. It was time to tuck myself into bed. Not only was I exhausted, I think I might be a little dehydrated too. I drank a big glass of water and passed out.

I went to bed with the sun last night and woke up with the sun this morning. At 5:20 am I woke up ready to conquer the world (maybe?). My body still felt gross (just not tired). My hands and my feet were also swollen. I really think I just need a lot more to drink today! I decided to skip my morning run (I’ll sneak it in this evening), and I enjoyed some quiet time to myself before the house woke up.

Being pregnant has truly made me appreciate things differently.

partycow — Haha! I couldn't help myself!

I now love it when I can sleep through the night without waking up to use the bathroom. I love it even more if I can sleep for more than 6 hours. I think Maute Moo might be a Party Moo. Since getting pregnant, I can’t sleep anymore. I’m up late almost every night. Yes folks! 11pm is LATE for me! I wake up at 5:30 every morning. There is usually one if not two pee breaks in between. I guess my body is prepping me for late night feeding sessions.

I love that my husband wakes up and cleans the kitchen for me – especially on mornings when I went to bed the night before at 8pm. It is wonderful to not come home from work to a messy kitchen. We normally split all household chores about 50/50, but he has definitely been carrying the weight of the daily tasks lately! THANK YOU husband!

I love running even more now than I did before I got pregnant. It’s different now. Yes! I’m slower! Yes! I walk more! My mindset has definitely changed. I don’t have the internal battles with myself anymore while I’m running. I simply celebrate each passing mile. I’m excited for every run I can tackle because I know at some point my body is going to require me to stop running until after I have Maute Moo. The challenge is now about getting there. I don’t care if it’s pretty. I don’t care if it’s slow. I’m just excited to actually complete it!

I love family time now more than ever. If I could keep Christian and Cole with me all day long, I probably would. I just like us being together. I still crave and need me-time, but I am finding myself craving good quality family time with my boys more and more these days. (speaking of Cole – he comes home in 1 week! WOOHOO!!!)

I love (and have become slightly obsessed) with progress! I like crossing things of the list. It makes me feel like we are one step closer to be prepared for Maute Moo’s arrival.

As of yesterday, I’m in my 16th week of pregnancy/I’m 15 weeks pregnant (every book/website is different so I never know which one to go by)! Maute Moo is the size of an avocado! Baby is getting BIG! His/her limbs are now more developed which means he/she is controlling his/her movement more……which means I should be feeling the baby soon! I can’t wait!

avocado — Crazy to think that a baby that big is in my belly!

Family Room Face Lift

Between swimming, grilling out, and hanging out with family, Christian and I (and my mom too!) managed to squeeze in the time to give our family room a much need face lift. Our house was built in 1960. Too say that it has quirks is being polite. We bought our house from the original owners. The husband passed away in the 80s, and I think the household updates stopped there. Fortunately for us, they neutralized everything before putting it up for sale. The entire house is an awful paint color. It really looks like primer. They painted everything – walls, crown molding, floor boards, etc. This weekend we started the process of bring our house to modern times.

As soon as we bought the house I knew the exact feeling I wanted in our house. I wanted it to be combination of cozy beach house meets Utah and all the elements of nature while being respectful of the fact that the house was built in 1960. I’m not sure exactly what that looks like, but I know how I want it to feel. I want it to be combination of everything we love. I’m not comfortable living in a “designed” room. Decorating our house will be a slow, forever ongoing process.

On Saturday I posted about motivation. My motivation for the color scheme in our house comes from a mug that Christian brought back from Montana last August. It’s a clay mug from a local pottery shop. I love the contrast of the grey/brown/muddy colors against the terracotta. As soon as he brought it home, I knew I’d be using it to compare color swatches for the entire house. So far we have the more muddy, greenish, grayish color in our front room. I’m pulling the softer grays into our living room. The terracottas will be used in the kitchen.

To start the process, Christian picked up the paint from Home Depot for me on Friday afternoon. It’s called “wheat bread” by Behr. I wanted something neutral, crisp, clean, and in the gray family. I love this color. Fare Warning: the before and after photos are not dramatic AT ALL! But the over all feeling in the room is dramatic. It definitely adds the cozy cottage feel to the room that I love.

Before (ignore the horrible built-ins from 1970 - that is a different project!)

Like all good house projects, the after results inspire a whole new list of house projects. Our family room face lift was no exception. As soon as we had new paint on the walls, I noticed the oldness and inconsistency of the wall outlets. Some of the outlets were the original 2-prong outlets. Some of the outlets were converted to 3-prong but were installed upside down and had been painted over several times. Christian tackled the outlets for me first thing Monday morning. I had no idea I would be so excited about wall outlets. Having an outlet with 3-prongs that actually holds the plug-in place is an amazing thing!

Christian in action - Yes! He wears a head lamp for all his house projects. Don't ask! I have no idea!

The list of additional projects doesn’t stop with the wall outlets. Now that the walls are clean and crisp, the trim and doors look dull and dingy. I will be buying a gallon of glossy white paint to paint the trim, crown molding, and doors slowly over the next few weeks. The bathroom and laundry room doors have never been painted. They even still have the sales sticker on the edge. HaHa!

I’m also on a mission to find fabric to create curtains for around the window and french doors. I want a large graphic print that has lots of blue tones!

And of course, there is the big ugly eye sore in our room. The built-in book shelf. Yes! That is a gun cabinet on the right. On the left is a closet for the previous owners hunting clothes. It won’t be a small project. The back wall is all wood paneling, so who knows what that will expose. It’s on the long-term list of projects for the house. We plan on rebuilding a new set of built-in shelves that better meet the needs of our family – more storage, less gun cabinet!

Until all of those items get crossed off the list, I’m loving the new wall color! Up next is our kitchen! Time to start searching for the perfect terracotta color.

HUGE THANK YOU to my Mom for painting all the edges in the family room. She edges. I roll. We've got it down to a science! (Poor Alex had to spend some time out back so he'd stay out of trouble!)

Happy 4th of July!

Bring on the Fireworks! Bring on the BBQs! While I am a HUGE fan of fireworks, I’m probably the worst guest for summertime BBQs. I don’t consider myself a picky eater (anymore!), but I am not a fan of cookout food. I’ve got a few weird food quirks and they all fall inline with cookout food.

#1 – I don’t eat condiments (except ketchup with french fries). No Mayo. Mo Mustard. No salad dressing – I use lemon juice instead.

This pretty much rules out all the salads that are brought to BBQs. I don’t eat potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, etc.

#2 – I don’t eat ground meat. The texture makes me sick to my stomach.

This rules out hamburgers, hotdogs, sausage, etc.

#3 – I don’t eat meat off a bone.

This rules out a lot of chicken, ribs, etc.

In our normal day-to-day cooking, it never really poses a problem. If Christian and Cole want hamburgers or hot dogs, I grill myself a chicken breast. These food quirks of mine do pose a problem when we are invited to cookouts. I’m always worried that there won’t be anything for me to eat, so I’m always bring a side dish I know I will enjoy. I don’t know about ya’ll, but a side dish just doesn’t cut it for me lately.

My sister and her family invited us over for a cookout yesterday. My family is well aware of my eating habits, so I don’t worry much when I go to their house. My sister was making chicken-kabobs. YUM! My mom made potato salad. Not so Yum. Sorry mom! Everyone else absolutely loves it though! Minus the mayo and the mustard, I’m sure it is great. My contribution to the cookout – a salad.

It wasn’t just any salad though. It might possibly be the best salad I’ve ever made. And it met all my nutritional needs too! Lettuce, spinach, cucumber, red, yellow, and orange peppers, pea pods, blue berries, strawberries, and QUINOA! I added the quinoa to the mix once it cooled so it wouldn’t wilt the lettuce. The crispness of the veggies combined with the sweetness of the berries combined with the nutty-ness of the quinoa was so good. I topped it with lemon juice, but my family used italian dressing. Everyone loved it!!! I’m so glad I made a huge bowl so I have plenty for lunch this week! Today for lunch, I’ve topped it with avocado too!

I had never tried quinoa until recently, but it has quickly turned into a staple in our diet. It is one of the most perfect foods we can eat. It contains complete protein (meaning it has all 9 essential amino acids). It is full of magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, and phosphorous. You can read more about it here. It’s incredibly easy to cook. 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water brought to a boil and then simmered until all the water is absorbed. It is also good with everything. I’ve found it takes on the flavor of whatever. I’ve cooked it with stir-fry, steamed veggies, and salads. I know there is so much more I can do with it too. Healthful Pursuits has a lot of amazing recipes including quinoa desserts. I’ll be trying them all!

Happy 4th of July!!!! Enjoy the fireworks and the BBQs!

Cole and his sister, Alexandra, celebrating the 4th in Tennessee

Motivated….

Running while pregnant requires A LOT of stuff. Camelbak for water. Cell phone just in case. Gu just in case.

What is your source of motivation? It’s all around us. Everyday. It’s our job to notice it. It may come from within. It may come from a friend, spouse, family member, or coworker. It may come from a commercial on TV or from a book we are reading. For me, my motivation always comes in the form of a whisper. It is a gentle reminder of things I want to accomplish in my life.

This week I’ve found my motivation in unexpected places. I’ve found motivation from my friend Nicole twice this week. Once by asking me for a recommendation on at-home yoga videos. I instantly found my body craving yoga. Thanks to Nicole’s email, I had a great yoga practice and meditation. Nicole also came through with motivation bright and early Wednesday morning. I had talked myself to sleeping in until I read an email from her. She talked about how she loves her morning runs. I changed my mind and had a great 4 mile run (my first since my injury and pregnancy). Thank you Nicole!

I’ve found motivation in my visit with my doctor this week. She reconfirmed my running plan is not only safe for the baby but healthy for both of us. This has given me even more motivation to train “hard” for the Rock n Roll half marathon. She also gave me the best advice. She said that everyone has an opinion about pregnancy. Everyone wants to share their opinions about pregnancy. I need to practice being the Queen of England. Wave. Smile. Say thank you. Continue what I’m doing. Everyone’s opinions about pregnancy may not relate to my pregnancy. I can’t let them bother me personally.

I also found motivation to recommit to healthy eating thanks to an 8 lbs weight gain last month. Pregnant or not, I don’t need dessert every night of the week. This is the biggest thing I’ve let creep back into my life since becoming pregnant. I normally don’t eat after dinner. Because I’m pregnant, if I don’t eat shortly before bed I wake up sick to my stomach in the morning. Dessert is not the solution to that problem. I’m snacking on healthy choices before bed.

I’m using this long weekend to embrace the motivation that is all around me. Today I ran 5 miles. This is my first 5 mile run post-injury, and it felt great. I swam, kind of. I ran from our house to Christian’s parents house. They have a nice big pool in their backyard. I traded in my running shoes for my swim suit, and I did some laps around their pool with the help of a kick board. It’s a start! We all have to start somewhere, and I have lots of mental blocks when it comes to swimming. I spent the afternoon finishing up the family room with the help of my mom. I then spent the evening back in the pool followed by a yummy grill out – steak, scallops, salad, avocado, and grilled peaches. YUMMY!

IMG00494-20110702-1759 — Christian's awesome dinner creation! YUM!

Sunday better watch out. I’m on a mission!