Weekly Review through January 27

Another quick week flew by! After spending a long weekend and MLK day at the cabin, my normal four-day school week was shifted to a Tuesday-Friday week, followed by a short two-day weekend. I know that's what normal people have- a short two day weekend- but when you're used to having 3 days off, two days really does feel short! And, to be fair, my four days of work are really long. We leave the house around 6:30 a.m. and get home by 5:30 p.m. Bleh. Those three day weekends are WELL. DESERVED.

Anyway, here's the rundown on fitness, farm, and life for this past week!

Fitness:
Monday, January 21-  This was the day we drove home from the cabin, so I didn't get anything in for today.  THIS POST has a lot more about our trip to the cabin!
January 22-  Took Tuesday off as well.
January 23-  Short evening ride on our indoor cycling bike trainer, via Rouvy!

Post-ride on Wednesday!

January 24- Rest
January 25-  Woke up early for just an easy walk at a slow pace on the Treadmill. Nice to start the day with some steps!
January 26-  Stroller walk outside with Genevieve and Harvey.
January 27-  40 minutes of indoor cycling on Rouvy

Another post-ride pic!

I was pleased with myself for fitting in two Rouvy rides this week!  What is Rouvy, you ask?  Well, we bought a smart trainer that works with our bike so we can bike indoors. This was our Christmas present to ourselves this year. You can use an app like Rouvy or Zwift to communicate with the smart trainer via bluetooth and control the resistance it applies to the back tire of the bike. We decided, after trying both those apps, that we like Rouvy a little better, and it was less expensive of a paid subscription. With Rouvy, I can select a "ride" from a massive list available on their app and ride it virtually. This week, I rode in Phoenix, Arizona and a route called North  Applegate in California! It's really great.  I love it as an alternative to running, especially while my ankle and hip are continuing to rehab.

I like using Rouvy on the iPad and either playing music or watching TV while I ride.
This is what it looks like in-app on a Rouvy ride.

Farm
The biggest news on the farm this week was Jeff's attendance at the Montana Farmers Union Producer Conference in Havre. Jeff is now an elected Board Member for Montana Farmers Union. It's a great fit for him as he's very thoughtful about giving farmers voice and representation, and he's extremely knowledgeable on farm policy.  He's making a ton of connections across the state and even nationally as he gets involved in policy and procedures of MFU and more.  It sounds like some of the speakers at the Producer Conference were really great. I didn't attend because I had school on Friday, which was day one of the conference, and I chose to stay home with Genevieve on Saturday and catch up on laundry and housework. (What fun!)

Life
The biggest event of the week was Genevieve's transition from crib to toddler bed!  Luckily, our crib was convertible, so it was an easy switch--just changing the railings out. Jeff waited until Genevieve and I were home in the evening, so she could "help" with that. I also had her pick out a new sheet for her mattress and make her bed. We were hoping that if she felt involved in the process, she might be invested in staying in bed at bedtime. She actually seemed pretty excited about the change!  Of course, when it came time to actually lay down and go to sleep, we had many several encores of mom or dad going back into her bedroom to help get her settled.

How about this cute photo of our little girl in her toddler bed! From Jeff's insta.

At first, we were watching her on the monitor and going back into her room, picking her up every single time she climbed out, putting her back in her bed, and asking her to stay there. She clearly decided it was fun to get this sort of cause and effect reaction from mom and dad, and it wasn't productive for anyone. Now, we are trying a new tactic. We do our whole bedtime routine, encourage her to climb into bed on her own, say goodnight, leave, and shut the door completely.We are giving her about 20 minutes to do whatever in her dark bedroom, and then going in and putting her back in bed. So far, this seems to be working better as it's less of a game to her.  We're hoping that she'll get to a point where she'll realize that it's really not that exciting to play alone in her dark bedroom and she'll crawl back into bed on her own to go to sleep. So far, this approach is working better for everyone.

In other news...I've been reading some great books lately, and actually finishing up a blog post book review of sorts, so stay tuned for that really soon!  Also, this upcoming weekend we are headed to the exotic land of Canada for a weekend getaway to ski. I've never actually been to Canada, despite living only 10 miles from the border fence! I'm super excited for international travel! 

Weekly Review January 10-16

Time for my second Weekly Review of the year! In case you missed the first one, you can check it out here: Weekly Review January 1-10.

Our "fat beef" started on their rations this week!

So, let's find out what happened this week in the realms of Fitness, Farm, and Life!

Fitness
Despite having some hip and knee pain this week, I still managed to stay on track with my #RunLoveChallenge. Wendie, my partner, nailed it this week, too! She really impresses me and motivates me. I mean, balancing two young children with a job and building up running distance... killer. I have no reason not to get my workouts in! Also, regarding the hip/knee pain, I really think it's just resulting from tightness, perhaps in the IT band. When I stretch it feels much, much better.

Oiselle sends out weekly challenges for everyone who's participating in the #RunLoveChallenge and this week it was to complete this Tough Love Challenge-- a core strength workout. I got that in on Monday. Exercises that focused on leg strength were much easier for me than those that worked on upper body and especially arms. I have a lot of room for improvement in the pushups department...but, oddly, I can plank like no problem. Static vs. dynamic movements perhaps? Either way, despite being good at planking and doing yoga several times a week, I think I'm going to try to work on getting better at simple pushups. Your job is to hold me to it! :)

Anyway, here's the breakdown for the week:
Sunday Run 3.75 miles on Dreadmill
Monday 20 min Tough Love Challenge core routine, plus 30 min yoga

I didn't have the medicine ball that the workout called for, so I used a water jug. 

Tuesday Complete rest. (busy day!)
Wednesday Run 2.7 miles-- ran "The Loop" after my haircut in town. 20 min stretching.
Thursday Walk 1.7 miles. 20 min stretching.
Friday Run 4.1 Miles (I met my weekly "long run" goal for #RunLoveChallenge today!) and 20 min stretching.

Victory photo after finishing my 4-miler.

The route for the 4-mile run wasn't challenging at all, but what made the run pretty tough was that it was cold, windy, and snowing.  The plan was to run out four miles and Jeff would pick me up on his way back from doing chores at another farm yard. I misjudged the wind when we made our plan, so I was running into it the whole time. I finished the run before Jeff was back, so I ended up walking almost another half-mile, too. I was so, so glad to see the pickup! I joked with my #RunLoveChallenge partner, Wendie, that I really wished someone had surprise-installed a hot tub at my house when I got home. Alas, no such luck! A hot shower did the trick, though. :)

Saturday 30 min walk (1 mile), 30 min yoga

I downloaded the Strava app this week and I'm really loving it. If you're on Strava, hit me up or let me know so I can find you!

My hip/knee tightness seems to be greatly alleviated with lots of dedicated stretching, so I'll be spending a lot of my free time while watching TV doing extra stretching. I need to be better about post-workout stretching anyway, so this will definitely provide more impetus for that!

I had a question recently on Instagram (@katie.r.bangs) about how I dress for cold weather running. For my 4-miler, when I left the house it was 25, windy, and snowing. I wore thick tights, knee-high ski socks, a thermal turtleneck, yellow medium-weight shirt over that, and a fleece jacket. I also had my earband, fleece hat, and gloves and ran with my hood up. I'll admit that I tend to layer way more than many runners, though, so you may not need as much as I wore.

2016 Year to Date, through 1/16/16
Walking: 110 min/5.1 miles
Yoga: 135 min
CC-Ski: 220 min 
Alpine Ski: 1 day
Running: 17.25 miles

Farm
Again, not a ton going on right now other than feeding cows daily, tax prep, and 2016 crop season planning. The highlight of the week was that we started feeding our "fat beef," which is the animals we finish ourselves for our own beef consumption. Right now, we have one and our neighbors have one and they're both housed in our corrals. They get all the hay they want plus a ration of chopped up feed barley. In the past, we've purchased feed, but this year Jeff and our neighbor DIYed it using barley that our neighbor grew. Once the cows reach the appropriate weight, they'll be butchered and our freezers will be full. This is local food, folks!

I had just fed them their evening ration. 

Life
At school we're reading a book called Mindset by Carol Dweck as a staff. It's about having a "fixed" mindset vs. having a "growth" mindset. It's sort of interesting. A person with a fixed mindset believes that they are what they are and they can't change. This person is constantly working to prove their abilities, and struggles when setbacks occurs. Someone with a growth mindset believes that they can constantly grow, change, and learn. They see "failure" as opportunity for growth. Think about people in your life-- which type of mindset do they have? What about you? Can you change your mindset? How does confidence work with both fixed and a growth mindset?

This was a graphic someone at school photocopied and shared with everyone. 

I liked this quote: ...believe that a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training. (p.21) I think that can be applied to just about any realm of life.

How was your week?! 

That's Abby and Bella in the back, after our run, and Princess Harvey rode in the cab.

LiveInPrana and #1MillionMinutes/Fitness Update

The #1MillionMinutes Challenge on FitApproach is still going along just fine. I'm up to 3315 minutes. Can I make it to 4000? I seriously don't know how the minutes are adding up so fast. I am almost wondering if I accidentally typed 300 rather than 30 one day? Crazy.

Today I bring you another MadLib! If I complete this MadLib, I'll be entered into a chance to win a prize from prAna! I have a few items from prAna and I really love them, so I'm all about this contest!

This week we're partnering up with prAna to help us get closer to our goal of #1MillionMinutes! 

prAna has just launched their new Fall collection and we could not be more excited. So many cute pieces to choose from. What’s on your wish list for fall?

I'm so excited to rack up more minutes towards our _whopping_ [adj] goal of reaching 1 million minutes this summer!  While most of my sweat has come from _walking and running with Harvey the Vizsla_ [type of activity], I have also done quite a bit of _Yoga and mountain biking_ [type of activity].

To motivate myself to get from _working on the farm_ [workout / activity] to _my daily run or yoga session_ [workout / activity] and through my day, I always have to be armed with lots of water and positive attitude__ [noun]. I find that the more _grateful_ [adj] that I am, the more successful [adj] I am at achieving my goals.

Since staying on track requires so much _determination [adj] _flexibility_[noun], I think it’s important that I treat myself! If I were going to reward myself with something from prAna this week, it would most definitely be _Asha Shorts_ [item(s) from prAnam] because _I have had my eye on them all summer!_.

I tag _whoever wants a chance to win sweet gear from prAna, [person], _any yoga enthusiats_ [person], and  runners [person] to join me for this week of #1millionminutes for a chance to win some fantastic goodies from prAna!

What else is going on in my fitness world lately?

Well, just this morning I finally registered for the MSU-Northern Maroon and Gold Fun Run.  I signed up for the 10K distance. I waited so long to sign up because I wasn't totally sure if I could get my act together for a 10K or if I'd have to stick with a 5K. I've had some really great training runs over the past week or so and I feel like a 10K is definitely achievable. SO PUMPED! 10K is definitely becoming my favorite distance to race and train for.

I've also been doing more yoga lately, thanks to Grokker! I signed up for a (free) 14-Day Yoga Challenge, instructed by Steffy White, through Grokker. I have done two days worth of classes so far and I am really loving it! Steffy does a great job teaching the poses, and keeping it casual yet challenging and fun. Plus, she has an adorable Scottish accent so even when you're thinking, "No way, Steffy! This pose is impossible!" it's actually impossible not to also be thinking, "Can this video last just a wee bit longer because I can't get enough of your accent?!" Or maybe it's just me. Either way, I'm loving the series and my body is loving all the yoga.

Image source: www.steffyoga.com
Maybe someday I'll be able to do poses like that?! ha. 

And don't forget about 5K On The Farm! We're up to about 17 actual registrations, and around 30 people who have RSVPd on Facebook or verbally to me. I'm really hoping to get 50 people total, at least, so we do have a ways to go to get there. If you haven't signed up yet, please do so! We have 1-Mile, 5K, and Virtual Run. Thanks! SIGNUP VIA RUNSIGNUP by clicking this link!

What are you doing to stay active these days?! 

I'll also have a special announcement later this week about something fitness-related that I am SUPER, SUPER excited about! Even as excited as I am about 5K On The Farm! Stay tuned... :)

Thankful Thursday ~ I love Track!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Yes, for the second straight week, I'm delayed in getting my Thankful Thursday post up on the blog. But, you'll live, right?

In case some of you didn't already know this, I am an Assistant Track & Field Coach here at our local high school. Track season officially began on March 9. I had a few days of practice before whisking off to Wichita. This week has been really great for getting into the rhythm of track practice as a part of my day.

With the track season upon us, I am super busy and my days are lengthened by about two hours each day for practice. It would be easy to look at practice as another commitment, another thing I have to do that takes time away from being home. But that's not how I see it. I love running and I love track. But more importantly, I love spending time with the wonderful young adults I have the privilege of coaching. I try to find some time each practice to tell at least one athlete that I'm glad they're there, thank them for being on the team, and tell them something specific that they do or say that brightens my day.

I think this positive energy returns back to me, and to all of us on the team.

Last Wednesday, when I arrived back from Wichita, my flight had landed at 1:30 p.m. and I was tasked with driving back to Rudyard (about a two hour drive) and hopefully making it in time for track practice. I found out via email earlier that day that our Head Coach and another Assistant Coach were both unable to be at practice that day, and that our third Assistant had a meeting after school and wasn't sure if he'd be there either. Our Junior High Head Coach had said he was going to be there, but then within minutes of practice beginning, called me and said he probably wasn't going to make it either.

So there I was, after a long day of travel, feeling tired, grumpy, and let's be honest, really kind of just wanting to go home, but knowing that I couldn't skip practice. I was the only coach who could be there.

I walked into the school, and immediately bumped into about three of our track athletes. Right away they called out to me, "Hey Coach Bangs!" "We missed you!" and "Are we doing yoga today? I hope we're doing yoga today!"  I couldn't help smiling and immediately my grumpiness and sleepiness waned. Their friendly hellos reminded me that I was there for them.

Not a practice has gone by since that day when at least one athlete hasn't specifically smiled at me, or asked me how I  was doing that day. One girl seems to have made it her goal to specifically give me a huge smile and wave right when I walk into practice each day. It truly makes my day every time.

These kids are so, so friendly and they work so, so hard during practice. As their coach, I'm proud and honored to be part of the team and to get to spend time with each of them for a few hours each day. I think having a good, positive, healthy coach-to-athlete relationship benefits all of us and the team as a whole. If we're invested in the coach/athlete relationships we have and if the athletes are invested in the relationships they have with their teammates, they'll continue to want to work hard for each other, and for their coaches. In turn, I continue to want to work harder to be a better coach for them.

We have our first track meet tomorrow in Cut Bank, MT. The weather is supposed to be iffy but the kids and the coaches are excited and ready to start competing! Wish us luck. Today we handed out our team uniforms. I was reminded of this quote from a fierce female runner that I love, Kate Grace:

A team is more than a uniform. It's encouragement and support before and after competition. It's frequent interaction, about running, but also just about the daily grind. It's friendly competition - pushing each other to the next level in workouts. It's running together, cheering on friends together at the water-stop. - See more at: http://www.oiselle.com/blog/open-letter-flock#sthash.rFwCPCm1.dpuf

Those few sentences sum up our track team pretty well, and I couldn't be more excited or thankful to be part of this group now for my third season of coaching.

Taking a stretch break after running timed 400s. 

Even though track season is a long season and huge time commitment, especially when one lives as far away from town as I do, it's something I look forward to each year. I'm grateful for the people I get to spend my time with after school at practice, on long bus rides, and at some of our marathon meets. These kids have a positive effect on my outlook and they teach me something every day. If you're a past or present track athlete that I've worked with, thank you for being you! Keep being awesome!

Who are some people who have a positive impact on your daily outlook? Who inspires you to work harder? Who can brighten your day with a smile and a wave?

Fitness Update

I haven't written about fitness in a while and I do have some readers who follow this blog mainly for that reason. So, today I thought I'd give a little fitness update!

I don't have any races scheduled until late May, when I'm hoping to do the Ulm Buffalo Jump 10K on May 17.  I have still been running, however! My mileage isn't very high right now and I'm only getting in about three days a week, especially since we've been doing more skiing this winter, and travelling. But, when I do get a run in, it has been going well. Yesterday I did 4.6 on our gravel road and it went better than expected, especially since I haven't done anything that long in quite a while. If you're curious about my racing intentions for this year, you can read my post titled Tentative 2015 Race Schedule. 

I am also continuing to work in strength training a few times a week and yoga a few times a week, in addition to planks almost daily. I can REALLY see a difference in my running since I've dedicated myself to additional core work. I'm a complete believer in the plank.

We have ramped up our participation in winter sports this year a bit. Jeff and I have gone skiing five days (six for Jeff) this winter and loved it each and every time! We are both having a ton of fun exploring this winter snowsport hobby and are improving our skills each time we ski. You can read some of my ski posts below:

Getting ready to head down the mountain at Whitefish!
Photo courtesy of Skyler Pester. 

Glacier New Year-- Nordic Skiing in and around Glacier Park.
Snow Fun -- Snowshoeing and Nordic Skiing at our own home!!!
More from Glacier-- Alpine skiing at Whitefish, Nordic skiing at Essex.
Downhill Skiing Like a Local-- Alpine skiing at Showdown and Bridger Bowl.
Red Lodge Weekend-- Alpine skiing with our friends from North Dakota.

So far this winter, Days on Downhill Skis = 5, Days on Nordic Skis = 4, Days on Snowshoes = only 1.

Caught in the action of Nordic skiing at Essex!
Photos courtesy of Skyler Pester.

Something else that's new this year for me is a weekly workout group I have joined with some friends. It was started by my beautiful friend Adria probably about six weeks ago. The idea was to give one another some accountability and social incentive to exercise. We're getting in better shape, but also having a blast together, laughing and joking around the whole time. Since there are no actual gyms within many, many miles of where we live, Adria had to get a little creative. We are meeting in the gymnasium of one of the old school buildings in our small town. The school is no longer in use, thanks to school consolidations, but the gym is still used occasionally as a sort of community hall for weddings and events. For us, it is being used as an actual gym to workout once a week! Adria devised five different stations, with two exercises at each station. Each station focuses on a different part of the body-- core, arms, more arms, legs/cardo, legs. We rotate between the stations and jog two laps around the gym between each one, while rockin' out to 80s music on Pandora! It takes us about 40 minutes to get through the whole workout. It's really a blast and a good workout, too!

Lastly, again this year, Jeff and I are participating in Shape Up Montana.  SUM runs for three months, February -April. This is our third year on a team. We are with his parents, his sister and her husband, my friend Adria, one of her friends from her hometown, and another local friend named Sarah. With this being the third year, we really knew what to expect from the program and how we can maximize our success. Basically, each person on a team earns points for the activity they do. As a team, we are actually competing against other teams from all over the state, based on how many points per person our team scores. The competition aspect does create a bit more motivation, but for me, my goals are thus:

- Score more points each week than in the previous week.
- Score more total points this year than I did last year (Last year I scored 492 points).
- Continue to motivate our team as a Team Captain.
- Have fun and find new ways to be active and healthy!

SUM also has weekly does weekly challenges that are either activity based or focused on healthy eating. If a person completes the challenge, they earn a bonus 10 points for that week and are entered into a drawing for prizes. Last week our challenge was to get together with some teammates for a healthy potluck. I did the challenge, and guess what.... I won a prize!

In my third year doing SUM I finally won a prize! ha!

So, that's the skinny on what I'm doing to stay in shape as 2015 begins to unfurl! As my 10K race in May gets closer, I'll make a specific training plan probably when it gets to be about 8 weeks out.

What all do you have planned to be active in 2015?

November Fitness Challenges

Has anybody else noticed that November is the new January?

It seems like everywhere I look on social media, I'm seeing people participating in 30-Day Challenges of one sort or another, resolving to be better, learn something, commit to something, for the thirty days of November. A mini- New Years Resolution... in November.

Pinterest seems to be the place to find yourself in the mecca of 30-Day Challenges. Here's where you'll find any challenge to suit your interests, each complete with it's own hashtag and social media accountability framework. By the way, 30-Day-Challenge does have it's own hashie--- #30daychallenge. (I was told that's what they're called now-- hashies. Get with it! Hashtag is so 2013!)

Sidebar: What happens in December? We have November to challenge ourselves, December to glutton, then January 1 hits and we're resolving away all our transgressions? 

After sorting through all the bajillion ways I could #30DayChallenge myself, I did settle on two fitness related challenges. I selected two that would actually challenge me, but weren't so unreasonable that they'd become something I'd dread and never complete. Reachable, attainable goals that can be achieved, but would still require effort, organization, and discipline on my end.

So, for the month of November, I'll be challenging myself in running and core strength. I'm participating in a plank-challenge via Title Nine, and also a running challenge via FunkNRun.

First, the planking challenge--

Honestly, I probably should have chosen the push ups or pull ups because I have pretty poor upper body strength, but I went with planks because I thought they would be the best for helping my running posture. There's no reward or prize or anything for completing this challenge, but I saw on their original blog post for this challenge, located HERE, that I am supposed to get a photo of myself in action, planking, and post it on social media with the hashie: #aintnoturkey

While I think I am actually OK at planks and secretly kind of enjoy doing them, in reality, this is what I actually think is happening when I am doing planks:

Some of you have probably seen that picture before. I'm definitely the elephant, not the gorgeous happy brunette who's looking up and saying, "I love planking! I'm already on minute 17 of my plank and feeling great! And the breeze is blowing my hair in a sexy, graceful way... and notice that I do not have a drop of sweat?! Isn't planking fun?!" That lady #isaturkey for being ridiculous. I'll probably not be posting a photo of myself planking. Anywhere. Ever.

OK, so the other challenge does not involve any photos in-action. I'm doing the Funk~N~Run November Running Challenge-- Win At Least A Medal. You can read about it if you scroll down a bit on THIS PAGE. I am doing option number 2-- 48 miles of running in the month of November. This would definitely be an increase in monthly mileage for me, but not unreasonable. Plus, I'd like to do a 10K for whichever Thanksgiving Day run I end up doing, so this will help keep me in line with training. So far, I've done 4.25 miles as of yesterday. Off to a good start. They don't mention on the website any hashtags for public embarassment for this challenge, but I'd guess I could use #funknrun or something like that and it would get the job done.

To keep track of both of my goals, I made a good old-fashioned hand-written calendar on PAPER (I know what you're thinking-- why didn't I just use an app on my smartphone? Paper?! WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?!) I'm just that kind of girl. Something about the act of writing with a pen onto paper makes it feel official. 

And, it's on the fridge. Staring at me every day. 

So, what about you, dear reader? Are you embarking on a #30DayChallenge of your own this month? If so, what are you doing? What are the silly hashtags you will (or won't!) be using? 

Green Machine!

The things we do to *win*... 

For the second time this year, my Montana family and I are participating in a program called Shape Up Montana. We did it last year and really enjoyed it. This year, we had such enthusiasm that we had to break our team up into two teams because so many more people wanted to do it. We participate as a team because Shape Up Montana, or SUM, is actually a team competition. Teams can register from all over the state of Montana and we compete with each other for the most points per person on our team. This year the team I am on consists of me and Jeff, Tom and Carol (my in-laws), Katie and Josh (Jeff's sister and her husband), and Tia. Tia is actually not biologically related to anyone else on our team, but the first time I met her she introduced herself to me as "practically a sister" to Katie and Jeff. Good enough for me! Our Team name is WeBangs! If you're familiar with Ricky Martin songs from the 90's, you'll understand the pun. As I've mentioned, I do so love puns. 

So, as a team, we earn points for activity/exercise we do. This can be anything from walking and running, to cleaning and housework, to farm chores... and many activities in between. The nice thing about SUM is that they have done a great job coming up with many, many ways to give people credit for activity they are already doing in their daily lives.

The competition runs from February through April. At the end of this time period, the teams who have the most points per person win prizes. Most of all, it's a great program to challenge yourself to be more active, live a healthy lifestyle, and just to give yourself credit for what you may already be doing. I also like it because it has been a really fun way to do something as a family, and especially with Jeff, who has taken a very strong interest in the program. He told me yesterday that he is "competing to win this thing!"  

I guess we all have been competing to win this year. SUM has weekly challenges for participants to try. If they do the challenge, they earn 10 bonus points apiece. This past week, the challenge was to make a special smoothie according to a recipe they had on their website. This was no ordinary smoothie and was somewhat of a stretch for our rural Montana taste buds in some cases.  Nevertheless, I am proud of our team members because we ALL gave it a try! 

The smoothie has earned two nicknames in my vernacular: The Weird Green Smoothie, and Green Machine. They can be used interchangeably. The recipe is pretty simple. Throw a big handful of spinach, a chopped head of romaine lettuce, some celery stalks, an apple, a pair, and a banana in blender with a little water and lemon juice. Blend to perfection... or something like it. 

Jeff, Tom and I made the smoothie this past weekend right after spending all of Saturday morning doing cow work outside.  I wouldn't necessarily say we were looking forward to the smoothie or that it was really a "reward" after completing some hard work...but it was fun all the same. Jeff and Tom are such great sports!  We had a little difficulty getting past the look of the smoothie. Might have had something to do with being in the corrals prior to eating them. Calf poo has a certain color to it... 

Anyway, here's some photos of the whole crazy experience!

Some of the ingredients- awaiting their blended fate!

Mmmmmm.... See why we called it the Weird Green Smoothie?

"You want me to drink this?"

Down the hatch!

Part of a healthy post-chores lunch: Tomato soup, multigrain crackers, and Green Machine.
I had already finished my delicious roast beef sandwich.

Carol was in Bozeman visiting Katie and Josh for the weekend. They mixed their smoothie up on Saturday, too. I have to say they were much, much classier about it in their approach than we were. Thanks to Katie for sending me the photos of their experience!

They were missing the celery, but close enough!

Doesn't that make the smoothies look more appetizing?!
Nice work, guys!

I think I see the hint of a smile on her face...

That might be the look of skepticism... 

As if she's saying, "wow... I just ate that!"

I think for the most part the consensus was that the smoothie was not that bad... but not really that good either. It was overall kind of bland. There were more than a few comparisons to the smell of grass. Jeff said it reminded him of the compost heap. Appetizing, right? Maybe next time (if there is a next time!) we should blend in some flavorful herbs or some sweeter fruits or green tea. Or some honey... or yogurt.. ice cream...rum... All the same, great work WeBangs!