Little Critters

The dark rain clouds are lingering this morning, making me feel oh-so-cozy as I sip on a cup of hot coffee and blog away.

(I’m seriously in love with Godiva’s pumpkin spice coffee. Maybe my favorite coffee ever?)

My cozy feelings would multiply quite a bit if it wasn’t hot and humid outside, but since I’m indoors I’m going to pretend that it’s a blustery 55 degrees. Brr!

The fall is the time of year when I miss living in Illinois the most. Well, I miss it a lot on Christmas morning, too. (It was so weird to see Christmas lights on palm trees when we first moved here.)

The fall was always so fun in Illinois because the leaves would actually change color (imagine that!) and visits to the pumpkin patch required coats and scarves.

But Florida winters don’t make me want to die inside, so there’s a trade off, I guess.

Workout

I have a feeling I am going to be plagued with Jello arms again later today. I did another upper body workout that utilized the TRX straps like I did on Friday. Those straps really work my arms in a whole new way that I am loving.

I rushed through my workout a bit because I wanted to have plenty of time to awkwardly roll all over the foam roller on the gym floor. My hamstrings are so sore from Monday’s leg workout and all I wanted to do yesterday was foam roll them to help ease the soreness a bit.

It felt so good! My hamstrings already feel less tight. Walking around like a duck is cool and all, but I’d rather not waddle when I walk.

Breakfast

Thanks to a little prep work, today’s breakfast came together in 10 seconds.

Overnight oats!

In the mix:

• 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 6 ounces strawberry Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup milk (I used 2 percent)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds 

After sitting in the fridge overnight, this combination was thick and creamy! I love the way chia seeds seem to increase the thickness of overnight oats by 1,000 percent.

I also had a toasted English muffin with a bit of pumpkin butter on the side.

Little Critters

As I mentioned above, the storm clouds lingered this morning and as Ryan and I drove to the gym, the roads were wet and slick.

I was driving this morning and drove extra slow through our neighborhood so as not to hit any toads hopping in the road.

Our new neighborhood seems to be the toad capital of the world and every morning on my walk with Sadie I see at least five toads squished on the road and feel awful for the little guys!

I’ve loved toads ever since I was little.

Growing up, my family’s house backed up onto a pond. In the summer my neighbors and I would always play near the pond and catch tadpoles and toads. (The boys would catch garter snakes!) My favorite toad was one I named “Big Guy.” He (or she?) was awesome.

Whenever a toad hops into our garage, I have no problem picking it up and placing it back outside. Get me near a cockroach on the other hand and I freak out!

Questions of the Morning

• How do you feel about little critters? Do frogs and toads freak out out? What about bugs?

I know snakes are universally creepy to people, but I had to laugh when one blog reader told me she took a week hiatus from my blog after I posted a picture of a snake we saw on a hike because she was afraid it would pop up again. Too funny!