Here Comes the Sun, do do do do...

Weather in Lincoln today was incredibly unusual and absoultely wonderful!! Today was sunny with clear skies and a nice breeze, and best of all the temperature rose above 60 degrees!!!!!                                 It started of a bit chilly before the sun came up when I went for a 10 mile bike ride. Once it was light out I refreshed with some fresh squeezed Blood OJ. It was simply divine. 

If you haven't noticed yet, I have a thing 

for drinking out of wine glasses. LOL. =)

In the afternoon it got really warm and I was able to sit out in the sun with my skin exposed to its rays while doing homework. All that vitamin D just made me come alive and be filled with joy!

So even though I had classes, work, and a 4 hour afternoon chemistry lab, life was good to me today.

Florida Vacation

     It has been over a week since I returned from my vacation in Florida at my good friend Taylor's house. I really needed the break, and spending my time with fellow fruit loving and positive people just made it all the better.

Best dinner ever! A raw stew: heirloom tomatoes, 

sun-dried tomatoes, organic sweet corn, mango, dill, and okra.

Served with romaine leaves. Voila!

      I also got to experience fresh and perfectly ripe tropical fruits that were bursting with flavor.

Florida Papaya. . . such vibrant color!

My first time trying sapodilla. Like eating brown sugar. =D

And I spent plenty of time at the beach working on my tan. 

 Stayed out to long on the second day and got burned. However, it has now turned into nice golden brown, so I can't complain.

A bunch of us had a huge sweet corn eating contest. 

Between the five of us we consumed an approximate total of 90 ears of corn.

The awesome banana trees that Taylor had planted at his parents house. 

     Now that I am back home I've spent my days packing, training, and writing. I must say that getting ready to move has proved to be more of a job than I though it would be.

Fruity Deals

      

     This morning my mom asked me if I could drive up to Rainbow and Farmer's Market to pick up a few things that she needed, but had forgotten to purchase the last time we were in that area. Since I didn't have any plans this morning and I never pass up the chance to drive my Ford Ranger truck a.k.a Harvey, I agreed. It turns out that my agreeing to go was in my favour, though I didn't know it when I said yes.


     At Farmer's Market, I decided to check out the fruit produce to see if they had any really good bulk fruit buying deals. To my great suprise and fruity delight I found Atfaulo Mangos being sold at $6 a box (26 in a box)!! I immediantly started piling the mangos into my cart; I now have 52 Mangos (only cost me $12) ripening in a box on a kitchen shelf at home! =D

     My good fortune for the day was not yet finished though. Waiting for me when I arrived home was a box of Florida Passion Fruit from Taylor's Tropicals! I am seriously addicted Passion Fruit at the moment and I run out of the delictable fruit far to quickly for my liking. When Passion Fruit goes out of season I will miss it terribly.

     Now for my health and fitness update. Today. . .

Sleep: 7 hours

Sunshine: 30 minutes

Water: 3 liters

Food: Watermelon, Bananas, Banana/Date/Coconut water smoothie, Mango and Papaya

Exercise: 31.5 miles biking at an average speed of 14mph (approx. 80% of the course uphill), 1 mile run 6.5 mph with a 1 mile cool down walk 4mph

Total Calories Burned from Workout: 1056

Workout Length: 110 minutes

     It rained this afternoon so I drove to the gym for the workout you saw above. This gym has a cycling machine that I love to use becasue its built with the peddles, seat, and handle bars built exactly like a real bike. By the time I finished my entire my workout all of my clothes were completely soaked through with sweat and my legs felt a bit like jello. LOL

     

     Emotionally I felt really really good after such a sweat fest, what with exercise being a major stress reliever for me. I would have kept working out for another 30 minutes if I hadn't gotten an awesful side cramp while I was running. The cramp was pretty bad, so I was forced to slow to a fast walk to cool down my muscles and call it a day.

    

Fruity Friday

     A few weeks ago, my mom and I were at Sears when we stumbled across a refrigerator on sale for $175 ! This was an amazing opportunity since I had been on the lookout for a refrigerator for my fruit. In the winter time it was ok to leave half of my fruit out on the counters when we ran out of space in my mom's refrigerator, but in the summer fruit can rot and/or fruit flies and spiders come into the house to get at them. Most refrigerator with any sort of decent storage space had been way out of my price range. 


     In the end I bought the refrigerator and about two weeks ago it arrived safe and sound. However, in all the joy of finding, buying, and recieving this refrigerator, I had forgotten in considering where I was to put the thing! Up So up until last Friday, my poor refrigerator sat in my mom's kitchen, laying dormant, awaiting to be used. 


     Last Friday was Farmer's Market day and there were lots of good deals in bulk buying organic fruit this time around, so I really stocked up. When my mom and I got home I knew that we weren't going to be able to fit my groceries and my mom's groceries into her refrigerator. It was then I convinced my mom to let me get her to move the refrigerator into the garage. 


Behold my brand new refrigerator and its first load of fruit and veg!! 

     It didn't take me long to devour all of this! My mom and I split the figs and oranges between us, but the rest was all me. Sunday is whe I get to replenish my supplies. Luckily my Mango and Dragon Fruit order came in over the course of the week. I also bought a watermelon today at my local Publix so I should be good until Sunday.

The fridge was filled with:

- A large Yellow Watermelon!

- Organic Black Mission Figs

- Organic Navel Oranges

- Organic White Cherries

- Organic  Georgia Peaches

- Organic Strawberries

- Belize Papaya

- Organic Grape Tomatoes

- Cherry Tomatoes

- Organic Iceberg Lettuce

- Organic Asparagus

- Organic Radishes

     As for today I had a completely clear schedule! I was so excited at the prospect this morning and decided to use it by spending most of the day exercising in whatever way I felt like! I didn't have to rush through the workout because there wasn't anything I urgently needed to get done and there was no one that I had to meet at a specific time. 

     When I finished working out, I was able to take my time in the showers and getting dresses, and I even stopped off at Starbucks to buy a water and eat my lunch (a bunch of bananas) in the sun! During my lunch, a few people looked at me as if I were mental! However, I might have misread their facial expressions and they might just have been jealous of my yummy bananas! LOL.

My lunch set-up (from left to right): Garbage baggy with banana peels inside, organizer, yet to be eaten bananas, journal, and Runner's magazine.

In summation of my day. . .

Sleep: 8 hours (getting better) 
Sunshine: 2 hours 
Water: So far 2 liter (working on my 3rd liter at the moment)
Food: Dragon Fruit, OJ, Bananas, and a giant Mango/Banana/Peach smoothie
Exercise: 22 minute run 6mph pace, 20 minute 3mph walk with my mom and the dogs, 10 minutes lifting weights (tried a new routine and felt muscles I didn't even know I had!), 18.5 mile bike ride (approx. 80% of the course being uphill) at an average 15 mph pace, and 22 minutes swimming laps freestyle as hard as I could!

I hope everyone enjoys there weekend and that it is filled with warm sunshine, a cooling breeze, refreshing water, and juicy fruit!! =D