You wanna know who is awesome?

My sister Nichole. She lives here in AZ about a street away from my mom. One of the reasons I love to come and visit my M&D here so much is because it's a package deal. I get to hang out with my sister and her fam the whole time too. Love it. My sis has always been such a great example to me of living a well balanced life. She is an incredible mom/sister/aunt/daughter/niece/catsitter...she takes care of everyone basically. She is smart, spiritual, funny, and gorgeous. She has always lived an active, healthy lifestyle, and she teaches the importance of being healthy to her kids. Yep...if you knew her you'd probably want to hate her cause she's just so great, but it's impossible...because on top of all that she's one of the most genuinely nice people I know. 

This morning she made these whole wheat pancakes for all the kiddies running around here.

Nichole's Wheat Pancakes

(makes 16 pancakes)
1 cup skim milk

1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tbsp oil

2 eggs (or 1 egg/2 egg whites)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp agave

Mix all of these ingredients together in the blender and cook on a hot griddle or pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Nichole said she doubles this recipe and saves half of it in the fridge in a closed container for another quick easy breakfast later in the week. She also makes them with buttermilk sometimes.

 And of course, the stats (for one pancake)...what a great breakfast option. These pancakes are filling, and SUPER healthy. Top them with fruit, light syrup, honey, or peanut butter...yum. If your kids need a quick breakfast while they are running out the door, use two pancakes to make a PB&J.

 

Another reason my sister is the greatest...she lets me work out in her home gym whenever I come here. One day I will have a scchhhweeet set up like she does. One day.

 She has an elliptical, treadmill, smith machine, free weights, and a bench. Perfection.

She also has all sorts of shows on Tivo to keep me plenty entertained. This morning I opted for a little ABC Family featuring America's favorite cheese festival. Does everyone remember the Tanner's? Oh how I love Full House. If you think I am kidding about watching this while I worked out, I most definitely am not. I'm still a kid at heart. What can I say?

How about that flash huh? Yikes. The blackberry can't be controlled sometimes. Nichole also gave me those new shorts for Christmas...Thanks Nicky!! (Looks like someone's legs are ready for some summer sunshine.)

In a perfect world we would all have our own personal home gyms attached to our houses, right? BUT, in the mean time working out at home is COMPLETELY doable even if you don't. Get yourself a jump rope, some workout DVD's, a set of free weights, a medicine ball, a bike-trainer, a Garmin, a TRX trainer, or even just a pair of running shoes..etc. etc. etc. Not having access to a gym shouldn't be your excuse for not working out. The options are ENDLESS!! Click HERE, HERE, HERE, or HERE for some workouts you can do at home that will burn a TON of calories! 

So, Do you workout at home? Does the thought of the gym or running on a treadmill make you want to gag, or do you have to workout at a gym? I like a good mixture. I LOVE running outside, but I actually enjoy going to the gym to workout. Is that weird?