Freeze Pop Koozies are the End of Childhood as We Know It

Why hello there and happy Wednesday to you!  I don't know about you, but January is just running away from me.  It's been a flurry of activity so far, and we're already 3 weeks in!  Although it's been busy I still have these undercurrents of energy and excitement pulsing through me.  I still have that same feeling that 2015 is just going to be wonderful :)

And now, I am going to be posting another random list of completely unrelated items.  I feel like I should be planning out my posts better so that there is a common theme to things, but life is pretty random most of the time anyway, isn't it?!  Here we go...

1.  Read this book over the weekend.  Something inside me was set off when I first read "The Diary of Anne Frank" in 6th grade, and ever since then I've been drawn to reading stories and first hand accounts of the Holocaust.  There is something about the 2 extremes of human nature during this period in time that I still can't wrap my head around.  That at one end of the spectrum, humans can be so incredibly resilient and radiate light, and at the other be so incredibly full of darkness and hate.  And every time I read these stories, I wonder if humanity will ever reach a point where we completely extinguish the darkness?

 

 

2.  Tried this stuff for the first time.  I don't eat popcorn often because it's usually coated in either butter or some kind of cheese, which are both no-go's for me.  But this contains just sunflower oil and salt.  At first taste I thought it was kind of bland, and needed more salt, but it became strangely addicting! 

 

 

3.  I intended to go out for a long(er) run this past Sunday but of course it decided to rain and be icy.  So I decided to do some HIIT work instead and grabbed this workout from my Pinterest board.  It's a good one to do at home because it's quick, you don't need any equipment and it will leave you a bit sore!  I did the circuit 3x through which took 27 mins total, but I took 2 min breaks between each circuit (so 24 min total work).  [I also edited it a little and did a few more pushups/squats/crunches than they called for, so you can tweak as you go]

source/via Pinterest

 

 

4.  I went to the grocery store last night in search of zucchini because I have been craving my mom's legendary zucchini bread and wanted to make some myself (it's dairy free!).  I had no idea how bewildering this task would be.  I scoured the produce section over and over in search of zucchini to no avail.  Finally, I happened upon a vegetable that looked EXACTLY like a zucchini but was labeled "Green squash".  WTH?!  (I actually had to text my mom to ask her if this was the same thing!)  Maybe I'm the idiot here b/c I rarely buy zucchini, but is this what supermarkets call it?! What is zucchini called where you live?  And have you ever once in your life heard of "Green Squash Bread".  NO?!  I rest my case.

 

 

5.  I finally started adding some 'speed work' into my running.  I don't ever do tempos or fartleks like all the professional runners out there, and rarely do track repeats (a few times a summer), but I decided to just start adding sprints into my runs.  Genius!  For the treadmill, I started doing little intervals like this: 2 mins slower/1 min sprint, repeat over and over, and then end with a steady pace cool down.  Outside, I just randomly start sprinting every now and then!  I can only hope my made up speed training actually makes me faster for my next race! Hahaha

 

 

5.  And lastly, I was leisurely browsing my daily GroopDealz email this morning when this image caught my eye:

 

What has the world come to when we can no longer expect our children to HOLD THEIR OWN FREEZE POPS without insulating their poor little fingers from the cold?!?! I hope I never live to see the day when a child is actually using one of these.  Americans are soft, man.  That is all.

 

 



Have a great day!

 

 

What do they call zucchini around your parts?!

 

Can you recommend any other good dairy-free (salt only) popcorns to me?

 

Would you ever purchase a Freeze Pop Koozie?!  Please say no.