Kelly Trepp, Author

Photo from bitsnbytesblog.com. Well it is no secret that I took the last week off to pack on the winter pounds. How else am I supposed to stay warm during the dark, cold winter months?! Thanksgiving provided a bountiful spread of mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberries, pickled onions, homemade dinner rolls, yams, corn, stuffing and of course Turkey! Among other things... And let us not discuss the dessert. O the dessert! I made my first pumpkin roll, an apple pie; and then of course there was the pecan pie, the pumpkin pie, and the... but I digress... Drooling yet? Well don't wipe up that pool just yet. It's about to get worse... What is better than Thanksgiving dinner? Thanksgiving Leftovers! I stole this recipe from Everyday Food , a Martha Stewart Magazine. And of course, I put my own spin and flavor in it. As a disclaimer, this recipe is just as delicious with leftover turkey and potatoes as it is with the fresh stuff. Try it this or any week!

The Turkeys and I are on strike until after the Thanksgiving Holiday. But I promise to update as soon as I wake up from my tryptophan and black Friday hangover.

Part of being a fit for life wife is being a fit mom. Now, I may not have a baby with two legs, but I do have a baby with four legs, and he is just as special to me. Welcome home, Chance! We adopted Chance Nov. 19, 2010 from Second Hope Rescue . We had just lost our beloved cat, Cowboy , to feline leukemia, and I could not bare to have another cat replace him. Cowboy had such personality swagger. He was loving, thoughtful (he never pooped outside his litter box), comforting, and above all things, he was an excellent companion. I swear to you that this cat would talk to us... but that is another story. The point is, without Cowboy in our home, there was a void. A gaping, icy void. That being said, my heart melted the moment Chance came into our home. He has a pizazz unlike any pooch I have ever met. His energy is phenomenal, albeit annoying at times like when I want to sleep in on Saturday, but oh no! Puppy wants to play! He is a proud dog. He prances like he is in a showplace a

I am a little late posting this week's Wednesday Weigh in. Hectic day: work, drumming up some side work, and an HOA meeting. Surprisingly enough, the HOA meeting was the highlight of the day. I came home ready to call it quits, but I had a fire burning inside me and the only way to put it out was to create a breeze by running. Okay, that was totally cheesy. And what is worse, there is no breeze when you run on a treadmill. I got all of my runs and workouts in last week until Saturday came around... This weekend was wildly busy. Hubby and I finally got to unpacking wedding gifts and rearranging our house to make room. That means lots of trips to Lowes and a trip out of town to purchase my first big girl sofa! Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful? Unfortunately, I did not run on Saturday as a result of all the hoopla. There was no rest, however. We put together two storage units in the basement. How did they get down there , you ask? Hubby and I carried them, then

The quarter-life crisis is the new mid-life crisis , and I am starting to feel like I am facing one. I have been waxing poetic a lot lately about the idea of going back to school. Unfortunately, we live in an area where there are not a whole lot of options in the way of continuing education. Second problem: since I have my degree in Journalism (a Bachelor of Arts) and I work in the engineering field, I would have to take a bunch of undergraduate courses before beginning any Masters programs in Engineering or Computer Science. Third, and most importantly, I am tired of sitting at a desk all day. Possible solutions I have brainstormed include taking courses online to complete a degree, staying with my parents during the week while taking classes at a state school and coming home on the weekends , taking a lesser paying job wherein my bank account would be less full, but I would feel fulfilled in my work and have a lesser commute. This last option is also ideal for starting a family

A photographer I am not. As the weather turns cooler with winter's approach, I turn to cold weather recipes to warm up the Hubby and I. I saw this recipe for Lightened Loaded Potato Soup on Pinterest , and I had to give it a try! I made my own modifications to the recipe, of course. For starters, sour cream had to be removed from the ingredient list as Hubby despises mayonnaise, salad dressings, and generally anything white and creamy. This includes sour cream, unfortunately. I argued it is an essential ingredient in a loaded potato, but we did not have any in the house and I did not want to go to the store for one item... but I digress . I also replaced green onions with garlic chives that were miraculously still growing in my garden, which I have long since ceased caring for this year (A wedding will force you to neglect other aspects of your life). The original recipe also calls for preparing the potatoes and bacon in a microwave, which we do not have. So my instructio

Our final moments. It was one year ago today that, with deep regret and personal turmoil, we had our beloved cat Cowboy put to sleep. Cowboy suffered from Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and developed lymphoma later on. With a weakened immune system, there was no course of treatment that wouldn't cause more damage to his health. We had three short years with him, but we cherished every moment. We first met Cowboy, a disheveled and discarded cat, roaming the streets of Baltimore City. A little worse for wear, he was bone thin and had some jacked up crooked teeth. We were visiting my sister-in-law's house for a Labor Day cookout. Hubby's sister had taken to feeding Cowboy as a stray, and so he liked to hang around her place. Before I had met Cowboy, I had sworn off cats. I thought they were prissy, unfriendly and sneaky creatures, able to cause chaos virtually undetected with their stealthy ninja abilities; leaping fences in a single bound, hiding the sounds of their movements

With a week of moderate training, a mock Thanksgiving dinner, and 13 hours in a car over the weekend, seeing the number on the scale has not budged is a blessing. I was fully prepared for a raise in weight this week ( I say this now that I didn't have to see a raise on the scale) . Having one weekend a month to let yourself go is not the worst thing in the world. What is? Letting yourself go completely. Knowing I had an off weekend filled with holiday fun has prepared me to step up my game in training this week. Staying steady at 128 pounds is fine by me. The flab on top of the jeans that I'm starting to see creep back? Not fine. I am so ready to get my butt kicked in cross training today ( Jillian Michaels is my punishment of choice). In fact, I am looking forward to it. I ran an easy 3 miles last night. While that was great for cardio and for helping me to achieve my goal of completing a half marathon in March, I need to focus on strength training tonight. I worked har

Today's inspirational quotes are brought to you by Mark Twain, Runners World, and boredom in the workplace. Hooray, boredom in the workplace! Dream big, but allow yourself the opportunity to start small, and have your share of struggles in the beginning. The world's great composers weren't writing symphonies the day they first sat at a piano. Kevin O'Rourke, Marathoner It is easy to become discouraged when striving to achieve a goal. It is easier still to see obstacles between yourself and your goal and throw your hands up in the air and say, "I give up!" It is important to remember that nothing worth doing comes easily. This quote is a fabulous reminder of that fact. The road to success is a long bumpy one, and sometimes it gets lonely out there. My best advice is to dig in and do the next thing. I heard a sermon once wherein the minister described the path to achieving a goal as a mountain. At first, when you see obstacles, they look like a giant moun

Over the weekend, I received an email reminder from the Rock n Roll Half Marathon that I have 19 weeks until my first half marathon. 19 weeks may seem like a long time, but since they have put a countdown on it, I am feeling the pressure! So today I have created a training calendar to keep myself and my running mate on track. Feel free to take advantage of this calendar and use it yourself, I made it public for you. How sweet of me?! This calendar is a modification of the 12 week Novice 2 schedule for half marathon training created by Hal Higdon . Since I have an extra seven weeks, I added in a few more long runs and some cross training days. I believe cross training was a big help in building my endurance when training for my 5-Ks. I will be using Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred dvd, more likely than not. It is a n ass butt kicker! You'll notice that towards the end of the training period, a 5-K race and a 10-K race are involved. We are on the lookout for races on

I have been a bit stressed lately. Spread thin does not even begin to cover it. I find the best thing to do when you are feeling like you cannot keep your head above water is to list the things you are thankful for. So, today I am thankful for: My husband, whose love and support has carried me for six years to achieve the things I did not think I was capable of and to become the person I am today. May we have many more years together to continue to grow and love. My family, which just got larger in the last month. I am so blessed to be joining Hub's family, who I have thought of as an extended family since day one. My own family who loves and supports me through my endeavors. Let's not leave out our furbaby either. He has been an incredible blessing in our home. My beautiful home, which becomes warmer every day we spend in it. With myself, Hubby and God in this house, no one can stand against us. It is my sanctuary. My treadmill. I try to leave out the material possession

... and consideration, we are the proud owners of a brand new Livestrong LS10.0T Treadmill! Dick's Sporting Goods just opened nearby. I had already done a considerable amount of research online and review reading before heading to the store. Lucky for us, they had this beauty for an incredibly reasonable price. Fact: The Livestrong LS13.0T has a 5 inch longer track, .25 more horsepower, and 2 percent steeper incline than the LS10.0T. Another Fact: My basement is pressed for space, I can touch the ceiling at 12 percent incline and Husband is under 6 feet, so the longer track would not benefit us. Final fact: We saved $200 by not going overboard. Don't be tempted by all the bells and whistles just because they are within your reach. Be reasonable. The 10.0T does everything I want it to, and has great impact absorption (the tracks of the 10.0T and 13.0T have the same impact technology). Details: The setup was super easy. Instructions were easy to read and all of the pie