Free Printable: [Spice] Cheat Sheet

rec·i·pe/ˈresəˌpē/

Noun:

A set of instructions for preparing a particular dish, including a list of the ingredients required. Something which is likely to lead to a particular outcome: "sky-high interest rates are a recipe for disaster".

   
It sounds exciting to me!  The truth is, I rarely follow recipes.  I guess I've always been a "rule breaker," but with age comes maturity and responsibility.  The only rules I have the balls to break anymore are recipe rules.  Don't judge - I still have my fun.  :)  I am not an expert on cooking, at all, but through many trial and error experiences I've learned a thing or two.  I know some of my readers tend to struggle if they're cooking without a recipe, so I wanted to share what I've learned!  I've also included a free printable [Spice] Cheat sheet, so keep reading!  =)

Two Things I've Learned About Cooking That Define My Cooking Style

(1)  Restaurant food typically tastes really amazing because when compared to any started recipe, restaurants over-season everything on the menu.  

(2)  They cook with lots of butter, lard, and oil.

When I learned those two things, I started cooking with a ton of spices and butters!  Everything I made tasted heavenly.  And then, I gained 20 pounds.  While cooking with butter does make everything taste better, it's not for me.  I've experimented with spices and found that most basic meals start out with meat and rice (or noodles).  Use my [Spice] Cheat Sheet as a guide for creating ethnic meals simply by getting creative with your spice rack!

(1) Save the image to your computer. (2) Open the photo in Microsoft Word. (3) Enlarge so that the picture takes up the entire page.  (4) Print.  (5)  Tack the Cheat Sheet up in your kitchen, add it to your recipe book, or keep it with your spices!  
You'll notice that I didn't include any measurements or ratios to use along with the Cheat Sheet.  I'm trying to break you of using a recipe, remember, haha!  Trust me when I tell you that it will be fine.  I never measure and I cook these meals all the time.  Start with a meat (any meat) and marinate.  Season.  Add rice or noodles.  Season.  Smell the spices that you are using & ask questions.  (I'm on Twitter!)  Adjust the spice-ratios to suit your taste buds.  If you don't have a particular spice, investigate alternatives or substitutes.  If you don't like spicy foods, leave out the Cayenne Pepper.  If you like EXTRA spicy foods, throw in some Crushed Red Pepper!  Have an open mind and have fun.

Don't forget to bring wild experiments into the kitchen, passion onto the counter-tops, and madness onto the tables.  Cooking doesn't have to be boring, and it certainly doesn't have to be tame.  =)  This is the first time I've ever created a "printable" or anything, so if you guys like it, grab it, or use it please let me know!  Also, while I'm not an expert, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have!  Comment or e-mail me at MyNewWifeLife(at)AOL(dot)COM.  Have a great day!  

Our Usual Fights {After 6 Months}

Maybe it's just a Robinson thing, but we seem to have the same fights over and over.  Marriage is a challenging and beautiful mess, and we're still learning our way.  We'll probably always be learning our way, but I thought it'd be interesting to write a post about what our current most common fights are.  Like I said, we seem to have the same fights set on repeat for some reason.  My mom says that her and my dad still have the same fights they've been having for 20+ years, and maybe all marriages are like that.

Some are petty and silly.  Some stay light while others can get pretty heated.  In any event, these are the fights we've been having up until the 6th month mark:

• Housework & Chores:  My mom, in my opinion, is close to perfect.  She also has a pretty ideal lifestyle - she's a housewife with a wealthy husband.  She spends her days cleaning their home, cooking amazing foods, working out, taking care of all the bills, reading her Bible, etc.  I grew up in a spotless home.  Absolutely spotless.  My mom is a clean freak.  My husband and I are living in the house I grew up in.  Except it's not so spotless anymore, since we both work 40+ hours a week and still try to find time to read our Bibles, remember to send off our bills on time, take care of the dog, juggle church and our other responsibilities, and I try to exercise.  Our plates are full, and all I want is to go to sleep every night in a clean house.  Oh, and I want my husband to help my achieve that.  We fight about chores all the time.  I hate how much I nag him....  I cook dinner, all I want is for him to help wash the dishes.  When we first got married, I wanted to clean the house little by little every day so that we would have our weekend set aside to relax and have fun.  He preferred that we use Saturday's as our housework day.  Except now that we spend every Saturday cleaning the house, he's decided that it's not necessary to sweep/mop/wash-dishes/clean-toilets/etc. once a week.  I can not get him to do yard work.  He has cut the grass a few times, but there are weeds everywhere, the bushes and hedges and trees and everything are out of control.  When he gets home, he checks the mailbox and brings the mail inside.  But instead of putting the mail away or throwing out the junk mail, he leaves piles of paper all of the kitchen counter.  He doesn't throw anything away.  I'm getting off track.  The point is that having a clean home is important to me.  It is not important to him.  We argue all the time about this because he either doesn't help, refuses to help, argues with me about why such&such doesn't need to be done, or complains about having to help.  And just so that y'all don't think my husband is the bad guy (because he really is a wonderful man & I love him very much!)...I turn into a big, fat, nagging wife.  Hence, the fight.  Which brings me to our next fight...     

• Why Do I Have To Ask You For Help?:  It drives me nuts that I have to ask my husband to help me do things.  I spend an hour cooking him dinner.  I get everything ready, fix his plate, hand him silverware, tell him what we've got to drink.  And he fixes his drink.  I just spent over an hour preparing a dinner for us.  Be courteous and fix us both a drink.  Does that make sense?  Or when the clean towels are in the dyer, we both have to shower to get ready for work, and he brings one towel into the bathroom.  This fight or always me fussing at him...it all boils down to I feel like I carry more weight than he does & shouldn't have to ask for help.  So I nag, fuss, complain and a verbal fight breaks out.  This one's probably our most common & most heated....probably because it always comes AFTER the first fight I mentioned, meaning that tempers and emotions are already running high.    

• Mr. Robinson's Compromise:  Whenever we talk about compromising, it seems like it's me asking my husband to compromise with me.  As a result, he naturally feels like I never have to compromise with him - which makes him less likely to willingly or joyfully compromise with me.  He doesn't see the compromises I make because I don't mention them or draw attention to them while I'm making them.  For example...he loves my spicy chicken nuggets.  He could eat them for dinner several times a week, while I would be satisfied with eating them once a month.  However, I cook them once a week anyway.  I don't say to him "Honey, I'd like to point out the fact that I'm compromising with you by cooking chicken nuggets for dinner.  I'd rather have {fill in the blank} but I'm cooking what you want instead.  I'm compromising...keep this in mind!"  I firmly believe that this has everything to do with him being an only child and me being the oldest sibling.  To be honest, it's probably a combination of us both being right.  We both compromise...I compromise often without calling attention to it (but not as often as I should/could), while expecting him to compromise all the time (big sister syndrome).    

• Visiting Other Churches:  My husband and I both adore our church, but occasionally he wants to go into the "big city" an hour away and visit larger churches that have a different type of worship service.  His favorite is a church that is quite similar to a rock concert...and I hate it.  I feel that it's irreverent and it makes me miss our home church.  Not to mention, I feel like as members of a church 5 minutes away from our home (and with it being a church we love and are very happy with) we have no business waking up an extra hour and a half early to go visit a church we aren't going to join, especially if I don't get as much out of that type of service.  

• I'm Sick of Boy Movies & He's Sick of TV Shows:  This one explains itself and is 100% two-sided.  I am always sick of watching boy movies, he is always sick of watching TV shows.  My Side:  Let's just watch an episode of Law & Order: SVU or House, fast-forward through the commercials, and it takes less than hour.  Then we can watch another episode or something else, or find something else to do, or go to sleep! His Side:  There are so many movies that you need to see - all you've ever watched are chick flicks.  You're missing out on some really great movies - and we watch SVU all the time.  Let's do something different.  And back & forth, back & forth, back & forth.  I feel like we should watch a show that we both enjoy rather than watch a movie that only he will enjoy.  However, my argument is void because he's sick to death of SVU & House.  

I love my husband and he loves me.  We don't hate each other, we don't fight all the time, and we have plenty of good days.  Both of us are committed to surviving every fight.  I'm sure this post implies that we fight like cats and dogs...but our reality is that we are two imperfect people who had one perfect day on September 10, 2011.  We looked our best, dressed our best, and acted our best.  It was perfect..

  "My New Wife Life" is a blog about our life ... after I took off my wedding dress &  after he took off his tuxedo.  And sometimes it sucks, because it's anything but perfect haha.    

Mr. Robinson's Opinion of Me Blogging

One of the cool things about marriage is discovering your spouse, no?  I love learning new things about my darling Mr. Robinson.  Every day, every task is an adventure & opportunity for growth.  I know it sounds mooshy and dorky, so let's cut to the chase.

Sometimes it can be difficult to learn something new about your spouse.  Sometimes you don't like what you learn.  And no, I'm not about to husband bash.  Haha.  This post is about something my husband doesn't like about me.   

My husband doesn't like that I blog. 

He thinks it is weird.

He thinks that all of us blogging ladies who e-mail back and forth and feel & act like we are FRIENDS, are dorks.

He thinks it is silly.

He thinks that if I meet any bloggers in real life, they will murder me. 

He thinks it's a waste of time.
He thinks that what is happening tomorrow (gotta come back to find out) is ridiculous.
When I call y'all my friends, he makes fun of me.
He refuses to follow my blog's Twitter account.
And don't get me started on what he thinks of me playing Draw Something with my blog friends, haha!

I think that blogging is fun, and a great way to document our life together! I think that those of you who I do correspond with regularly, are particularly awesome.  I know that there is a slight possibility that a serial killer could be among you, and I certainly hope that's not the case.  Do any of your husbands tend to feel uneasy about your blog or about your love of blogging?  

I want to say, specifically, that my husband would never tell me that I'm not "allowed" to blog.  We are independent enough to make our own choices.  But we do consult each other in all things.  He just thinks it's weird that I blog and picks on me a bit.    It kind of makes a little sad to think that the friendships I have with some of you are not regarded as "real" by some people.  So...talk to me about your husbands + their opinions + your blog....and so on.  How do you deal with it?  Is there a compromise?
  Have a great day!   

Don't forget to  come back TOMORROW for some pretty exciting stuff!! =)

On My Heart..

Still not ready to post about our vacation...so I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that it might be a while before I can upload the pictures onto my home computer, edit them, upload them into Blogger, and write about the details.  But...it's coming.  

After spending 7 full days with my sweet hubby, I've really been missing him since we've gone back to work.  We met at Ruby Tuesday...we were coworkers.  And sometimes I really miss the "olden days" of us working together and being together all the time.  Call it unhealthy, call it a "phase" that will go away over time, but I could be with Mr. Robinson all day every day and be happy as a clam.  Over the past few months, I guess I've adjusted to spending our days apart from each other.  We both have full time jobs and various obligations/commitments during the week that keep us busy.  After taking a "vacation" for 7 days and spending every waking moment together...I miss my husband.  And I think I'm a little sad about the fact that I've adjusted to our days apart.  I suppose there aren't many married couples who spend all of their time together...but we used to.  Maybe that's why we knew so quickly that we wanted to get married.  We knew we could work together and play together...we knew that we loved each other.  & we're living happily ever after.  I know it's completely natural and healthy for couples to spend time apart...but I just enjoy our time together so much that'd I'd be happy if we never spent any time apart.  

We do spend time apart, though.  Even thought I miss him when we aren't able to be together 24/7, sometimes I receive blessings when I'm away from my husband...blessings that I wouldn't receive otherwise. At our church, a group called Mission Sisters meets once a month to focus on community missions.  And we eat yummy food.  I am, by far, the youngest in the room, but those ladies bless my heart repeatedly.  Last night we had our monthly meeting, and when I left I was floating.  God works on us through our mentors, and if you don't have a godly woman in your life acting as a mentor, you are missing out.  I am so significantly blessed to have a handful of Christian women who I can look up to, depend on, and fellowship with.  I enjoy being a part of a group of women who can step on my toes and bless my heart all at once.  

Source: teen-beauty-tips.com via Melissa on Pinterest

I need to be doing so much more for His Kingdom.  There are people that I need to confront, love, and invite to church.  Instead of reaching out, I ignore it all and eventually forget that something pulled at my heart in the first place.  It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day.  It's even easier to use that as an excuse for not doing something.  I am the absolute worst when it comes to justifying why I did something or why I didn't do something.  Last night, at Mission Sisters, I was pretty much called out on my junk.  Not directly...nobody called me by name and pointed out my flaws or anything.  The lesson really stepped on my toes and opened my eyes to the fact that I'm being too passive about things and that as a Christian, it's not acceptable.  Often, I'm afraid of making enemies or ruining relationships so I don't say anything.  

Take my sister for example.  She's a good kid, a good daughter, a good student.  All of those are things that did not describe me when I was her age.  She's a freshman in college and has the whole world at her fingertips or feet or earlobes or whatever body-part you associate with this particular saying.  She's not making bad choices, or as far as I know she's not, but that doesn't make her a Christian.  She loves and respects our parents, but that doesn't make her a Christian.  The truth of the matter is this:  I know that my sister is a good person.  I have no clue if she is saved.  Or if she has been saved, she doesn't take it seriously.  She isn't in love with our Savior and she isn't passionately seeking Him and His perfect will.  And last night I learned that it's not acceptable for me to be passive about my sister's salvation.  She's part of me, and her soul, her eternal salvation, is worth me risking our current relationship.  She's my little sister.  I'm supposed to take care of her.. 

      

It doesn't stop with my sister.  Where is my passion for people?  I don't get to pick and choose who I witness to.  I don't get to pick who I invite to church or who I reach out to or who I pray for.  It's not my church.  It's God's church.  And I've got to stop only inviting people to church if they look like me, or act like me, or have things in common with me, or are related to me.  What about everyone else? 

These are some of the things that are on my heart today.  I want to be a better Christian, and that means being a better relative and a better daughter.  It means not being afraid of rejection or "ruined" relationships.  When I die, I will be held accountable for everything I did...and for everything I chose not to do.  I want to finish well.  I want to be regarded as a good and faithful servant.  I don't want to spend eternity explaining to my perfect, Heavenly Father why I didn't find certain people worthy or worth the risk of sharing Christ's love.  

Big Changes for The Robinson's!

I want to share some very exciting news with you guys!!! But first, a little back-story.

Mr. Robinson and I met waiting tables at a Ruby Tuesday.  We dated briefly and were soon engaged.  Mr. R had recently graduated college and had been looking for a grown-up job in his field.  He kept applying for different jobs and looking for places who were hiring, and couldn't find anything.  We started getting nervous because we would be married soon!  Neither of us had a very good job...it was scary.  Finally, he heard back from one company.  It was a finance and loan company.  They wanted to hire him, he accepted the job.  We didn't really ask any questions.  He was excited.  The word "salary" was a magical, musical tune to our ears {waiters in SC make $2.17 an hour, folks.  Learn to tip or learn to stay at home}.  So my soon-to-be hubby accepted a job because it was his only real option for supporting our little family.

It didn't take long for him to realize how much he hated his job.  It broke my heart because he came home miserable every day.  He was having to go out to people's homes and try and collect payment for their past-due accounts.  One of his coworkers has had a gun pulled on him before.   He's been looking for a new job for a while.  It's hard to find a new day job when you already work a regular 40-hour-week day job.  He met with several different people to talk about jobs, he updated his resume, and it just felt like he was trying so hard and not getting anywhere.  A few opportunities opened up, but to me, they didn't seem right.  I tried to be encouraging to my husband....after all, that's part of my job as his wife.... but I also tried to remind him that just because he was ready to jump ship doesn't mean he has to jump onto the first ship that comes along.  It was hard on both of us and we struggled..

So we took it to God and started praying.

We prayed together and separately.

We talked the new-job topic to death.  His current job offers us amazing benefits, and we argued over benefits a lot.  We were both exhausted.  He even asked me once if I wanted him to be miserable. {Which I don't, of course!}  But maybe my fear-of-change was stopping me from getting on board with another job.  A new job could mean that we'd have to move, which mean I'd probably have to give up my job.  With my job, I'm next in line to be VP of a company.  It was just a lot on us, you know?  There were big decisions to be made and I wanted both of us to be 100% positive that we made the best decision out there.

If you've ever stood in front of several doors and had to pick the best one..knowing that this decision would affect the rest of your life...you know how stressful it can be.

via

Eventually, God closed all of the doors except one.  Behind this particular door is a 100% commission based job.  There is no starting salary or base pay.  We've been hesitant...
We had dinner at a cute little local Mexican restaurant with Johnny, the regional manager.  He was really cool.   We bonded over our love for guacamole dip and Mexico.  We asked lots and lots of questions.  We asked all of the questions we should have asked before Mr. R took the job he has now. 

After dinner, Johnny told us to talk & pray about it.  He told Mr. R that he wanted to hire him and would be calling him on Monday to see if we had any questions or if we had made a decision.  So, Mr. R and I got in the car and came home.  We both felt at complete peace...the job seemed like a great opportunity, even if it would be a little risky at first.  Even though we both felt at peace, we wanted to pray and make sure that the peace we felt was from God and from ourselves.

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Saturday, Mr. R called Johnny and accepted the job.  This morning he went and signed the contract.  This coming Thursday through next Wednesday, we will both be off of work!  :)  {Because...with his current job, he gets two week paid vacation, and I get two weeks paid vacation from my current job.  Once he leaves his current job, his paid vacation time is gone and mine is useless.  Since we will be living off of my income at first, there is a good chance he will be able to take off one week for a mission trip, but that's it.  Which renders my paid vacation time useless unless I want to sit at home by myself.  SO, we are taking a week off from work, with pay, and when he returns from vacation he will put in his two week notice."

We are very excited!  God is so good..this should be a scary time.  We will have one steady paycheck from here on out.  How much money he makes will depend greatly on how hard he works.  I know he can do it, though.  I believe in that man more than I believe in myself most days.  I know he will work hard, I know that God is on our side, and I know that we are both at complete peace about this big change.  It's risky, but we are YOUNG.  We are newlyweds.  We h ave no kids, we have no mortgage, we could sacrifice a million things before having to go into poverty...NOW is the time for us to take a risk.  My husband hates his job and it makes him miserable and exhausted.  Maybe this job will, too.  BUT at least we'll know we tried.  At least we will know of two jobs that aren't for him, rather than sticking with a job he hates from fear of hating something else.  Everything about this feels right.  We aren't worried a bit.

This was the first big decision we've made since we've been married that will really change the course of our life together.  It felt so adult.  You know?  I love the little {or in this case, big} things that remind me that we are married.  It makes mundane tasks or scary decisions a little extra fun!  Exciting times!

Keep us in your prayers, y'all!  =)  And for those of you who knew of his job situation and offered to pray on our behalf, thank you for doing so.  We greatly appreciate it ... God answered our prayer!

Appreciate The Small Things

It is so important to appreciate the small things in life, isn't it?  One thing I love about blogging is that it gives me the opportunity to document the small things and receive "small things" in comments that  brighten my day.  I came across this story on Facebook this morning and had to share it with you guys.  It really made me stop and think... goosebumps will do that to you.
...

A man stood in a metro station in Washing DC playing a violin on a cold January morning.  For 45 minutes, he played six Bach pieces.  During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that about 1,100 people went through their station - most on their way to work.
Three minutes passed.  A middle-aged man noticed music, slowed his pace, stopped for a few seconds, and hurried off.  A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip by a women who threw the money in without stopping.  A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him play.  He looked at his watch, realized he was late for work, and shuffled off.  The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy.  His mother was rushing him along, but the child stopped to listen.  The mother kept pushing the child to walk.  Several other children tried to stop and listen while their parents forced them to move on.  
In the 45 minutes while the violinist played, only 6 people stopped.  About 20 people gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace.  He collected $32.  When he finished playing, silence took over and no one noticed that the music had stopped.  There was no applause or recognition.  
Nobody knew, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world.  He had just played one of the most intricate and difficult pieces ever written on a violin worth $3.5 million.  Two days before playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where seats averaged $100 each.

This is a real story.  Joshua Bell playing incognito in a metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities.  The goal was to determine if, in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?  do we stop to appreciate it?  do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?       

One possible conclusion from this experiment could be... if we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the best music every written, what else are we missing?

This story gave me chills...I hate to think what all I have missed.  What extraordinary moments have I overlooked because I was busy?   It's the little things, guys.     It's a sleeping puppy sticking the tip of his tongue out for no reason...

It's a really good lunch.
It's waking up in the morning.  
What are your little things? 
I'm linking this post up with the Wish Out Loud Blog Hop!  {You still have 4 days to link up and make a wish!}  My wish is that I stop letting the little things pass me by...I wish the same for you.  

Marriage: Forgiveness

You guys know that I try to keep it real around these parts, don't you?  I love reading newlywed blogs because I feel like we are all going through the same learning experiences.  It's always nice to find someone new that I can relate to or learn from.  Because I draw so much positive influence and inspiration from all of your blogs, it's only fair that I put out my own little brand of marriage-lessons-learned, right?  
Last week, I wrote about how I was being selfish and not considering what my husband needed.  In that situation, I was in the wrong.  I admitted it.  I apologized.  I tried to make it up to him.  Honestly, nothing I ever say or do will undo my selfish actions from last week.  Sure...I apologized and expressed remorse.  He accepted my apology.  We moved on, and were fine.  But my apology did not erase what happened.

Source: thenotebookdoodles.tumblr.com via Lisa on Pinterest

But what do you do when you feel wronged and you've heard no apology?  
The Bible talks about forgiveness in many different places.  It's a key part of the Christian faith.  To summarize, we were forgiven by God and are to also forgive each other.  Matthew 18: 21-23 specifically instructs us to forgive each other repeatedly.  Whether or not you believe the Bible to be true is irrelevant.  Obviously you have forgiven people more than once, right?  As a Christian, I turn to the Bible for guidance. 
²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

 ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy time seven times.  ²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

This passage of scripture mentions nothing about an apology, does it?Has anyone ever forgiven you for something that you didn't apologize for doing?  (Before you say no...think about your parents.  I'm almost positive that at some point in your life, your parents forgave you for some sort of pain or hurt you caused them, even though you didn't ask them to forgive you.)  It's easy to say "Well, that person owes me an apology."  It's an easy-out that allows us to continue holding onto our  grudges.  

Source: artistlaraharris.tumblr.com via Dee on Pinterest

It's sinful to hold a grudge...it's not fun to hold a grudge.  I'd be willing to bet that none of us could think of one person who we (a) currently have a grudge against and (b) still love being around them.  You can't have it both ways.  Forgiveness is a huge part of life...it's a huge part of marriage.  Right now, I'm having a hard time forgiving and moving on when I haven't heard an apology.  He shows no remorse for hurting my feelings.  (And yes, he knows my feelings are hurt.)  He feels like he's done nothing wrong...

Source: weheartit.com via Kymberly on Pinterest

I was raised to apologize for hurting people, even if my actions/words were not intentional.  He was raised to apologize when he was in the wrong.  Those are not the same things.  And because I was raised differently than him and was taught to apologize even if I'm not wrong, I feel wronged because I haven't received an apology because he felt his actions were justified.  Basically, what it all boils down to is the fact that maybe we're both making mountains out of molehills.  Neither one of us did anything that's worth the farm.  Forgiving each other isn't easy, but it's absolutely necessary.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that in marriage forgiveness is either giving each other a break or reaching your breaking point.  I pick him.  I pick my husband over a grudge, over hearing an apology where I feel one is due, and over being miserable. 

Source: musicphilosophy.co.uk via Evan on Pinterest

  So...y'all know my tattoo obsession...maybe I need to look at getting a tattoo about forgiveness to help remind me..

Source: tumblr.com via Talia on Pinterest

Source: quadrangleme.tumblr.com via Brynn on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Katie on Pinterest

It all boils down to one thing..

Source: kindovermatter.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today's Workout Plan

A few minutes ago, I published this post right here.  It's about how I want to participate in and Color Run in Charlotte this coming October.  I have plenty of time to get into shape.  8 months.  Today is day one of my running-training uh..thing.  I wanted to print out a copy and take it with me, so I just decided to share it on my blog.
Before I start with the workout plan for today, let me just say that this will not be my every day schedule.  I have some catching up to do because I missed three days of working out.    
(1) I wasn't able to work out Friday night.  My parents are on a cruise and they wanted us to go out to dinner with them before they left.  By the time I got home, I could have gone and worked out but it was already 10 pm and I was pooped.* Sunday's are my day of rest.(2) I wasn't able to work out Monday because I got drunk at lunch.  Oops.(3) I didn't get to work out yesterday, Tuesday, because I had a hair apt. as soon as I got off work and I have a ton of hair.  2.5 feet, to be exact.  And it takes a super long time to cut and color that much hair.  I got home, Mr. Robinson had cooked us dinner, and by the time we finished eating it was 9:30 and I had to work this morning.
Working out for an hour to an hour and a half was out of the question on those days.  But, I feel super guilty and want to make up for it.  The good news is that Saturday I did 200 reps of my ab workout instead of the usual 100.  To catch up, I need to do 300 reps today.  No big deal.  
Today's Workout Plan

Location	Exercise	Reps
Floor	Stretch	5 Minutes
Floor	Jumping Jacks	x 20
BowFlex Weight Bench	Crunches	x 100
Treadmill	Warm-up	5 minutes
	Run 1 Min / Walk 2 Min	x 7
	Slow Walk	5 minutes
BowFlex Weight Bench	Crunches	x 50
BowFlex Weight Bench	Lift Weights
BowFlex Weight Bench	Crunches	x 50
Stationary Bike	Lowest Tension	4 minutes
	Increase Tension x 2	5 minutes
	Max Tension	4 minutes
	Decrease to Tension x 2	4 minutes
	Max Tension	2 minutes
	Lowest Tension	3 minutes
	Increase Tension x 2	3 minutes
	Max Tension	2 minutes
	Decrease to Tension x 2	3 minutes
	Max Tension	2 minutes
	Lowest Tension	4 minutes
BowFlex Weight Bench	Crunches	x 50
Floor	Push ups
BowFlex Weight Bench	Crunches	x 50

And then I'll go home and probably die.  I am not sure how much of the upper-body stuff I'll do.  Today is my first day doing it, so I'll just push myself and keep count so that I can record my progress and create a plan to push myself.  
Below is a Run-Walk Plan I found here.  

WEEK	Run-Walk Plan	Total Duration
1	1 min run, 2 min walk (7x)	21 minutes
2	2 min run, 2 min walk (5x)	30 minutes
3	3 min run, 2 min walk (4x)	20 minutes
4	5 min run, 2 min walk (3x)	21 minutes
5	6 min run, 90 sec walk (3x)	20 minutes
6	8 min run, 90 sec walk (2x)	18 minutes
7	10 min run, 90 sec walk (2x)	23 minutes
8	12 min run, 1 min walk, 8 min run	21 minutes
9	15 min run, 1 min walk, 5 min run	21 minutes
10	Run 20 minutes continuously	20 minutes

So...that's where we are.  If I survive, I'll see y'all tomorrow!  :)