Power in Pink

Ahh, Under Armour. I drool over their workout gear (have you tried their capris? Awesome!) but now have a reason to like them even more:

For their Power in Pink campaign they’re looking for “3 strong women to tell us how your active lifestyle, your attitude, and your spirit helped your body fight breast cancer. Tell us your story, and win a chance to inspire others.

The chosen survivors will get an all expense paid trip to Baltimore for a 2-day photo shoot and interview session. Photos and videotaped stories will be used for Power in Pink in-store visuals, magazine ads, website, and/or other promotional materials.”

Sounds like a great opportunity for three deserving women, right?

“In 2003, Under Armour created the "Power in Pink" campaign to help educate female athletes about the importance physical activity can play in helping to overcome breast cancer.

For every “Power in Pink” item purchased in-store or online, Under Armour will donate a percentage of the proceeds to a number of organizations dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.”

Megan, Marie and Marisa were last year’s women. Watch their impactful stories here.

I love this. Please pass along to any women you know who might be interested!

Do you have any history with breast cancer? What do you think of Under Armour’s Power in Pink campaign? Does it change the way you think of the brand?

Inspiration: Aimee Mullins

I stumbled upon this video and was inspired. And I was challenged.

This post isn’t just about how Aimee Mullins was born without fibulae in both legs and had a double amputation below both knees on her first birthday with a prognosis to never walk.

Instead this is about how Aimee Mullins took what is a nightmare for most and found the beauty in the obstacle, pushed herself in every way and challenged everyone around her on what is normal and what is beautiful.

My words can’t really do justice. Watch the video below to hear this inspirational athlete, actress, fashion model and speaker’s message in her own words.

I promise it’s worth all 10 minutes!

Have you overcome any obstacles in your life? (Remember obstacles aren’t just physical!) Please share in the comments!

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Healthy Ashley has a very new look! Notice all the fun sections at the top! A huge thanks! to my Love, David, who stayed up with me very late last night helping me make everything just right. I'm kind of one of those !RIGHT! NOW! people when I want to try something!

What do you think of the new look?

The Perfect Job

On this post you guys left some great ideas on possible jobs for me to pursue now that I quit the job that was just wrong for me.

So what jobs are open to someone against sitting down all day with an interest in health, nutrition and people?

Some of your ideas:

Teacher

Exotic Dancer (LOL- Thanks, Erinbee!)

Personal Trainer

Working at Disney

PR with a health-related company

Work with computers

Trial attorney

Event/wedding planning

Hotel management

Anything at a gym


Ruby had a really great tip: "look through the wanted ads and cut out all you for some reason find attractive - don't think about whether or not you can do them! Once you've done that a couple of times, you'll probably start to see a pattern. It might help get you some new ideas!"

Since I have three months until I can actually start a new job, I'm following Ruby's tip and looking into everything- especially at the suggested jobs above.

Any other job ideas? If you haven't already, tell me what you do! Leave it all in the comments!
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Ashley from the Lonely Diet Girl blog was kind enough to pass the Sisterhood Award onto me! Her words were so sweet and really touched my heart. Thank you, Ashley!

Run for Innocence

I love the cause of this race and had a great time last year when I ran. If you're anywhere near the Tampa area consider running (or walking!) this awesome race.
Running for Innocence...

K.I.D.S. Foundation Inc. will host “The Run for Innocence” 5K / 1 mile fun run to help bring public awareness to child abuse, child neglect, child exploitation, orphaned, and missing children on April 11th, 2009 @ St. Pete Times Forum (Tampa, Fl).

Register online at www.defendinginnocence.org.

The K.I.D.S. Foundation will bring attention to the growing problem of child abuse, child neglect, child exploitation, and missing children. Our goal is to inspire others to help make a difference in the lives of children through “The Run for Innocence” always in memory of Jessica Lunsford.

We can no longer run from the problem, so let’s run to solve it.

Total-Body Trail Ride

Holy workout!

David and I just returned from a two hour cross-country trail ride and it was tough!

(You might remember last month we hiked the same trail- Little Big Econ.)

We usually take our road bikes out on paved trails, but today David persuaded me to borrow one of his bikes and tackle the woods!
Twists and turns, narrow paths, huge roots popping up everywhere, inclines and drop-offs... It was quite a workout!

I actually felt the burn in my shoulders and abs as well as my legs. It was definitely more about total body strength than cardio today for me. Your body and mind have to be 100% in the ride.

For the past few months David and I have made a habit of getting in a long workout on Saturdays. Sweating outside together sure is a nice alternative to watching TV all day!

Are there any activities you love to participate in over the weekend? I want to tackle kayaking and volleyball next!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Review: Amy’s Enchiladas (and award!)

I drool every time I see Amy’s frozen meals around the blog world. With this anticipation I was so excited to try Amy’s back bean and vegetable enchiladas .

Sorry for the bright photo. This is the two enchiladas (one package) right after they came out of the microwave with a dallop of fresh salsa on the top right.

Close-up :-}

Overall I really liked this frozen meal as a quick and healthy fast food. The tortilla had a different (very natural?) taste to it and the fillings were so tasty and delicious. The enchilada sauce wasn’t sweet at all- I’m guessing it tasted pretty traditional?

There are some Amy’s frozen bowls I’ve been wanting to try as well. Have you had any Amy’s product? What’s your favorite frozen meal?

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I've gotten several good job ideas in this post (teacher, presonal trainer, event planner...)

Keep 'em coming!!!!!!

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The lovely Diana from Soap & Chocolate was so sweet and gave me a blog award! Diana is on my top would-be-best-friends-in-real-life list! She's the best and so is her blog. Soap and Chocolate is the perfect combo of food and everything else that goes on in life :)

Thank you Diana!

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A few photos from my trip to the Bahamas- 2007

Change in Your Hands

Today I was feeling a little fatty. And I was exhausted. And I just wanted to eat. A lot.

On days like this I usually skip the gym and do just what I want to: eat a ton and then sit in front of the computer.

But instead I made myself a light and quick dinner and skidoodled right to the gym for a spinning class.

Kicked my butt.

And I felt so good after it that I just kept going.

Now I'm all cleaned up with a nice snack and couldn't feel better.

So next time you're feeling a little poopy remember you hold the change in your hands.

Really.

DE STRUISE BLACK ALBERT (READ CAREFULLY!!!)

We have recieved a small shipment of BLACK ALBERT. It is available for reservation by members of the BEER OF THE MONTH CLUB exclusively until 5PM this Friday. After that, it will be first come first serve.
You can call to reserve your bottles at 415-255-0610.


cheers,

dave

NEW ARRIVALS

1. Haandbryggiert Dobbel Dram

(Norway)

2. Huvila Arctic Circle Barleywine

(Finland) (I have been trying to order this one for awhile. It's made with Juniper!)

3. Reutberger St. Josefi Bock

(Germany)

cheers,

dave

Viva la Karaoke

Saturday night I had 10 people in my little apartment for the best night of karaoke, games and food. I had so much fun.

We had the coolest group, too. See the guy on the left? He came to the states from Belgium yesterday. People from China here, too. I think they all rock. (I'm in the red and David's holding the mug!)

We were SO better than those lame Backstreet Boys!

What can I say? I was into it :-)

In case you missed this one”

Believe it or not I did a lot better when a camera wasn’t IN MY FACE! (ya… righttttttt…)

When I wasn’t standing up dancing I sat here belting out the tunes!

Just kidding :)

How cool is this? Totally different from what I’m used to…

Only some of the food…we also had lots of cookies, the coffee cake….

I made Seven Layer Dip (but with black beans instead of meat- and added lots of taco spices and hot sauce) and it was perfect.

Come over whenever you come to Tampa for some good karaoke times!